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      Hard Contract

      PG 1969 1h 46m Crime Drama List
      Reviews 38% 100+ Ratings Audience Score John Cunningham (James Coburn), a remorseless contract assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency, is offered a high-ticket job by his superior, Ramsey (Burgess Meredith), one that will pay Cunningham enough to retire if he wishes. En route to Europe to complete the assignment, Cunningham falls for Sheila (Lee Remick), a well-heeled American traveling with the devious German Alexi (Patrick Magee) and the sweet-natured Adrianne (Lilli Palmer), and questions his own morality. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

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      Joseph Gelmis Newsday Writer-director S. Lee Pogostin has courageously tried to avoid pandering to the violence he is repudiating by not showing it on the screen. Unfortunately, the long speeches he substitutes are simply dull. Mar 10, 2022 Full Review Harlan Ellison Los Angeles Free Press S. Lee Pogostin, the creator of a new film titled Hard Contract, is indeed not only a genuine genius, but a cinematic emotion-wringer of the first order. Jan 23, 2020 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews James Coburn is too stiff for the part of the hit man. Rated: C- Sep 23, 2002 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member good but very familiar Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Very good film, hasn't dated. Wonderful ensemble cast, nice European locations. Lee Remick at her most beautiful. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member my all time fave coburn movie. iceman meets his match... Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Like a black-hearted "The Sun also Rises", a hit man comes to Spain to assassinate a brace of targets, but instead, this edgy hitman Coburn discovers love. This is so crazily philosophical that you need to stick your finger down your throat, it has the 60s flower philosophy that Love could bring an end to all murder. But, look at it another way, maybe Coburn's no murderer at all and the man ordering him to kill just a figment of his imagination, that id inside us demanding the worst in our psyches. So too, then Sterling Hayden, in a old man speaking slow role (could his crazy "Old Man and the Sea" speak have been written for any other), the recovering sinner, is the voice of another morality. And then this is a movie about a normal man, with a dark suspicious heart, challenged by his budding relationship to find a peace with the world. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Hard Contract

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis John Cunningham (James Coburn), a remorseless contract assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency, is offered a high-ticket job by his superior, Ramsey (Burgess Meredith), one that will pay Cunningham enough to retire if he wishes. En route to Europe to complete the assignment, Cunningham falls for Sheila (Lee Remick), a well-heeled American traveling with the devious German Alexi (Patrick Magee) and the sweet-natured Adrianne (Lilli Palmer), and questions his own morality.
      Director
      S. Lee Pogostin
      Rating
      PG
      Genre
      Crime, Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Runtime
      1h 46m