Chase is a 2019 thriller about a hitman who must prove his loyalty to his mentor and best friend, while his girlfriend wants to leave the business behind them.
Perhaps it’s a fascination of the whys and hows of what it must be like to be a professional killer that keeps screenwriters going back to the deep well for stories about hitmen and assassins. There’s no shortage of titles on the digital shelves that attempt to humanize the life and times of those who make a living helping targets shed their mortal coils. Some do it with comedic flare, others as harrowing personal odysseys. Either way, we come ’round again, this time with writer and director Michael Matteo Rossi‘s latest entry in the mix, Chase, an earnest yet familiar independent film with a good look and strong lead, flawed by some storytelling choices that leave it off balance.
Muscle-bound, beard-heavy Chase (Damien Puckler) is a highly-successful hired killer, doing the job with a few very strict rules, including payment up front and absolutely no repeat business. His boss is also his best friend, sort of, Miles (Aries Spears) having broke out of foster care with him back when they were teenagers. The two have built a powerful partnership though Chase isn’t the only gun in Miles’ employ and recently, things have soured. Seems Chase is spending more time thinking about his girlfriend Blair (Jessica Morris) and the kid they are raising, Micah (Eli Michael Kaplan), and it’s setting Miles off. When they become part of a plot by Miles to bring Chase in line, things go off the rails and soon its a fight among the killers to set it all straight.
Rossi proves himself a better director than writer, the film well-paced and seedy enough to fit comfortably in the genre, the limited budget keeping it to a few small sets but filmed with a sharp style using pitch black shadows and warm lighting. It’s a good looking movie that Rossi keeps interesting with a good eye on movement and thematic color.
However, things lose their grip in how the story is told, with Rossi letting his lead narrate the film from start to finish, relying on words to say what action really ought to. Certainly, there are moments when body blows come, and Rossi keeps that up close and personal, but its weakened by lengthy passages where Chase details in great depth what’s happened or happening through inner dialogue. This is further set back by a trope-ish plot that features a woman in peril, a child kidnapping, and a man on ballistic revenge. You’ve seen it a dozen times or more.
That leaves Chase essentially solid filler, a movie that draws from what’s come before and for the most part, doing it competently. No, its fights aren’t all that convincing, and some of the acting is off but there’s not a one in front of or behind the camera who aren’t committed to delivering. Puckler is pure dynamo and Rossi makes good use of him where he can, giving the hulking presence some chance to peel back a bit of the emotional underbelly his character deserves. Chase is a sincere effort that should satisfy genre fans, a step above some of the usual low budget muck it makes company with.