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Assassination Tango

2003, Movie, R, 114 mins

Assassination Tango: Review

ASSASSINATION TANGO
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Tango has inflamed fimmakers from Carlos Saura to Sally Potter, with decidedly mixed results. Writer-director-star Robert Duvall's shambling shaggy-dog story about an American contract killer possessed by the spirit of the tango while on assignment in Argentina has the unmistakable whiff of a vanity project built around two passions: tango and Duval's attractive Argentine girlfriend, Luciana Pedraza. Brooklyn-based John (Duvall), who's recently settled down with his longtime girlfriend (Cathy Baker) and her little girl (Katherine Micheaux Miller), is sent to Argentina to assassinate unpunished war criminal General Humberto Rojas (Elvio Nessier). Unfortunately, just after John arrives in Buenos Aires the general is hospitalized, and John's mission is put on temporary hold. A lifelong social dancer, John uses his unexpected leisure time to check out the tango bar scene, where he gets hooked on the sleek silhouette and focussed footwork of professional dancer Manuela (Pedraza). John badgers Manuela until she agrees to give him lessons, and they indulge in an exhilarating flirtation overshadowed by the reality of their personal obligations: Manuela's family, including her small daughter, has deep roots in Buenos Aires, and John has equally powerful commitments in New York. John also has a lot on his mind besides dancing and romancing; his Argentine collaborators range from the shady to the amateurish, his exit strategy is sketchy, and his boss clearly doesn't know what's going on. Duvall clearly envisioned this film as a way to share his love of the tango, a dance of the disenfranchised that originated in turn-of-the-century Argentine brothels and holds enthusiasts in such thrall that they compare it to the blues in motion. He might have been better served by a documentary, because the best parts of this half-hearted crime picture involve the complex history and practice of tango, from a discussion of the curse of pioneering tango-singer Carlos Gardel's "Adios, Muchachos" (it was the last song he performed before dying in a plane crash) to virtuoso demonstrations of the intricate steps and sensual partnering that give tango its unique blend of heat and melancholy. By comparison, the thriller parts are perfunctory, and John is a dreary cliché, all scratchy, tough-guy outbursts and bits of actorly business. That said, Duvall at his worst is still an accomplished performer; Pedraza is a modern-day Ali McGraw, lithe and beautiful but no kind of actress. For all her fluidity on the dance floor, she's a dead weight who drags the film down. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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