Assassination Tango

directed by Robert Duvall (2002)

This movie was weird and it made me feel weird too. It's about a hitman who takes up tango dancing and romancing while he's stuck in Buenos Aires waiting on an opportunity to wack a former General.   I think Duvall wrote it for Robert De Niro and De Niro wouldn't do it so, Duvall had to step in, because it's like Duvall is doing a De Niro pastiche. It's truly an unwieldy combo of tango dance romantic fluff with a side of improbable hitman drama/action and I think either of the plots probably would have worked better independently. I found the dancing stuff was better developed, but maybe the hitman plot was what got the flick its finding.  On a story level, it was hard to buy that it would be difficult to find someone in Argentina who could manage a murder job.  And was it just me, or was Duvall taking credit for assassinations down south, saying that Ortega wouldn't still be around if he'd been on the job?

The action is pretty good aside from the, yeah this would really happen, snark! aspect though.

Now for the weird...

I felt uncomfortable about the relationship he had with the daughter of his girlfriend.  He obviously loved the little girl; their relationship was really sweet with him teaching her to dance and the general interactions made me feel aw...but there were also times when I got yucko feelings, like something is wrong here and I was dreading worse to come, saying to Joe, I hope there isn't a child abuse angle Duval's working.  I had to question my reaction.  Was I twigging to something that wasn't there?  He wasn't shown molesting the girl, and not even sure that was implied, but he for sure had terrible boundaries.  He talked about how she was better than a daughter, and that he loved her more than the mom?  I can't understand ever thinking it would be right to tell a kid that. Oh yeah, btw, your mother?  I don't really love her, it's you I love.  The feeling is understandable; romantic attachments often wither, but parental ones, not so much.  Still, that aspect felt like a real miscue, or that it was alluding to a situation that WAS abusive that wasn't developed properly. Or maybe that was the point?  His character was really selfish in all his interactions, totally self serving and it's with people like the hitman, where kids are getting exploited and abused, and generally nobody notices.  Or even worse when people do notice somethings up, they just ignore the problem.  Somebody else's business!  I feel like I'm reading too much into a small part of a character study story;  it's just that the stuff with the kid felt OFF and I don't know why, or to what purpose.  Probably the shittiness with the little girl was more to do with him being a selfish guy who only operates out of self interest. I mean, a decent guy would never put a child in a position where they could get revenge murdered, let alone lay a heavy trip on them that their mom's partner loves them more than their mom.  In any case, I didn't like the development of that subplot, and I thought the hitman was a tool.  I guess you'd have to be a tool to be a hitman  to begin with though.

Luciana Pedraza, the tango dancer he sparks on, is Duvall's actual wife and she's 42 years younger than him and a professional dancer.

When I found that out, it made me wonder, was this whole flick an ego massage to justify the massive age difference between them? To maybe silence charges of of dirty old man! What?  Hey man, who doesn't love dancing?  Life IS a dance! And besides, age ain't nothing but a number? Massive age differences don't have to translate as  incestous or inappropriate!!  On one level, yeah that's true.  Of course people should be with who they love. Yet I still feel conflicted, because I really did get squicked feelings from the flick.  I have to admit, even if it makes me a judgemental, uncool,  not liberal enough moral relativist, I think it's problematic when there are vast discrepancies between partners, whether they be of age, wealth, class, or even level of attractiveness.  Yeah, it's simple and silly to want people to have equity in all areas, but on a basic fundamental level, that feels right too.  It seems a bit sad to me when people get together, and there are great imbalances between them, because on an inherent sense of fair play, it seems likely someone is giving more.  Perhaps that's too literal a way to think of things.  Relationships do not operate with balance sheets after all.

All told it wasn't super great, but it wasn't super awful either.  Some of it made me uncomfortable, but it did make me think about and clarify my position on some important issues, for sure.  And the dancing and musics are great.  I say, if you're into dancing and gunfights, and don't mind some disjointedness,   put this one on and get ready to Taaaango!!

Duvall's dance moves

more dancing (spoilers)

trailer