Direct Hit

DIRECT HIT (1992)

Directed by: Joseph Merhi
Written by: Jacobson Hart
Starring: William Forsythe, Jo Champa, Richard Norton & George Segal

Ho hum its another hitman wants to do one last job/falls in love with his target/goes on the run from his former employers action flick which despite one or two cool scenes and a decent cast, is strictly average. An earlier PM Entertainment offer, Direct Hit dishes out very little excitement as William Forsythe’s number one hitman attempts to go straight amidst flying bullets and an abundance of melodramatics.



We’ve seen this type of thing, especially in the action arena, a million times and Direct Hit is as by the book as it gets. Bogged down in too much melodrama as Jo Champa (Out for Justice) cries her way through every scene and much scenery chewing from old heavy weight, George Segal (Fun with Dick and Jane) meaning the film never gets off the starting block. Segal seems to be there for the sole purpose of smoking a cigar, even lighting one up in bed after a phone call. Now that’s surely breaking all kinds of health and safety rules. Forsythe (Firestorm) does his best but it’s a clichéd role and he all but sleepwalks through the entire picture. Matters are made worse with long interludes between the action, with too much time wasted on trying to turn this into a serious drama. Seriously, it’s a cheap action flick and should just cut to the chase and deliver the goods.



Still there are a couple of good action bits including a car driven through a restaurant, a fire truck splitting a car in two and a nifty, if ridiculous, shootout in that oh so common orange tinted abandoned industrial estate seen in so many low rent action flicks. But the most criminal aspect of Direct Hit is wasting the great Richard Norton (Sword of Bushido). An action stalwart, he is sidelined for most of the flick but does get one cool scene with Forsythe in a bar where they pretty much tell each other they are gonna kill one another. Never waste Norton, dude is a legend.

Average, alright and altogether sub standard, Direct Hit may entertain fans of the cast or those who enjoy big dollops of soap opera between the action scenes.