Who Is Cletis Tout?

A movie-loving hit man (Tim Allen) waits for confirmation of payment before executing his latest contract; meanwhile, his intended victim (Christian Slater) tries to convince him that he’s not who he seems to be. Director Chris Ver Wiel’s script isn’t nearly as clever as it pretends to be; plot holes abound, the twists are flashy rather than surprising, the Allen character’s constant movie-quoting becomes annoying early on, and the shadows of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Brian Singer’s The Usual Suspects stalk every scene. But for all its simpering in-jokes and posing, the movie is fun to sit through. There’s a sweetness to it that’s disarming and diverting—mostly thanks to performances of Slater, Richard Dreyfuss as his partner in crime, and Portia Di Rossi as Dreyfuss’ daughter.