R-Rated Hit-Man Comedy Classic Being Hidden From New Fans
Have you ever randomly thought of a decades-old film, just to search it up and learn that it’s been erased from every subscription-based streaming platform on the market? This is exactly what happened to me this past weekend, when I stumbled upon a short clip of the 1998 classic comedy The Big Hit, which is currently unavailable to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, or any of the usual suspects. This is a real tragedy, as The Big Hit is a laugh-out-loud romp with some brilliant performances from big-name actors, which deserves to be seen by new fans.
An Overlooked R-Rated Action Comedy
The Big Hit serves as the debut screenwriting credit for Dragonball Evolution scribe Ben Ramsey. The R-rated comedy was helmed by Hong Kong filmmaker Kirk Wong, who previously took on such pulp projects as Rock N’ Roll Cop, Love to Kill, and Taking Manhattan. Mark Wahlberg leads the cast of the irreverent movie as Melvin Smiley, a talented yet passive hitman who finds himself embroiled in a major career snafu when he and his cohorts take on a job that goes horribly awry.
Ill-Fated Kidnapping Plots Are Inherently Hilarious
Wahlberg is joined in the cast of The Big Hit by Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Antonio Sabato Jr., Avery Brooks, Elliott Gould, and Fargo‘s Bokeem Woodbine. The film’s plot centers on Melvin Smiley and his crew of hitmen as they embark upon a quest to up their street cred with a high-profile kidnap and ransom scheme. Unfortunately, the gang realize too late that their target has recently gone bankrupt, rendering their entire scheme pointless.
The Heist Quickly Becomes A Comedy Of Errors
While the crew attempt to undo their mistake, they also learn that the teenage daughter of the businessman they were targeting is the goddaughter of their boss, Paris, making the whole thing a massive career blunder. Right when you think things can’t get any more off-the-walls, Smiley is compelled to house the girl in his home, while hiding her body from his oblivious girlfriend and her visiting parents. As the plot of The Big Hit continues to spiral out of control into a comedy of errors, the film builds to a bloody climax that will leave you shocked.
Mixed Reception Depending On Your Taste
While I personally enjoyed The Big Hit years ago, the film wasn’t exactly a smash-hit with critics. Today, the movie maintains a paltry 41 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with many reviewers maligning the film’s foul language, pacing, and simple premise as key negatives. Regardless, Wahlberg’s campy performance and the rigorous use of curse words are part of the movie’s charm, granting the film a sort of pseudo-Quentin Tarantino appeal.
Viewing The Big Hit
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The Big Hit was the North American debut of Kirk Wong, so it’s only natural that the film lives in the shadow of other popular crime projects of the late 1990s. I’d like to revisit The Big Hit today to see if it still holds up, but it looks like that’s not possible unless I rent or purchase the film through digital retailers such as Apple TV+ or Amazon Prime Video. If you do manage to stumble upon a DVD copy of the film somewhere, be sure to hold onto it, as there’s no telling if or when the movie will ever come to streaming.
