Assassins

Author(s): Alex / Daniel
Location: Washington State / Ohio

“Assassins"

Directed by Milos Forman
Adapted to the screen by John Logan
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Principal Cast:

Hank Azaria (The Proprietor)
Neil Patrick Harris (The Balladeer)
Michael Cerveris (John Wilkes Booth)
Paul Giamatti (Charles Guiteau)
Bebe Neuwirth (Sara Jane Moore)
Toni Collette (Lynnette "Squeaky" Fromme)
Jack Black (John Hinckley, Jr.)
Patrick Wilson (Leon Czolgosz)
Robert Downey Jr. (Samuel Byck)
Antonio Bandaras (Giuseppe Zangara)
Alan Cumming (Lee Harvey Oswald)

Tagline: “Everybody's Got the Right”

Synopsis: "Assassins" opens in a classic American fairground shooting gallery. The Proprietor of the shooting gallery sings "Everybody's Got the Right" as the assassins enter one by one. The assassins are John Wilkes Booth, Charles Guiteau, Sara Jane Moore, Lynnette "Squeaky" Fromme, John Hinckley, Jr., Leon Czolgosz, Samuel Byck, and Giuseppe Zangara. The Proprietor says that all of their problems will disappear by killing a president. The Proprietor hands out guns to each one as they walk up to the gallery. John Wilkes Booth enters last, but then leaves abruptly as he crys "Sic Semper Tyrannis!" and shoots President Abraham Lincoln.

The Balladeer, the omniscient musical narrator, reads from Booth's diary and explains that Booth only wanted to become a legend and that is why he shot the president. Later, the male assassins are in a bar as Byck enters to ask if anyone has seen President Richard Nixon. At the bar, Zangara exclaims that he wants to become the US Ambassador to France. Czolgosz and Hinckley are about to start a fight until Booth stops them. Meanwhile, Fromme and Moore are smoking joints in a park as Fromme tells Moore of her love for Charles Manson. Moore tells Fromme that she is an FBI informant and suffers from amnesia, although this is not true. They practice with their guns by shooting at a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket. Fromme hits the bucket while Moore doesn't even come close. The next day, Fromme and Hinckley are in Hinckley's college dorm talking about their love interests: Manson and Jodie Foster. Fromme makes fun of Hinckley for loving a woman he has never met and he throws her out. During that same day, Guiteau meets Moore as he attempts to teach her how to shoot a gun correctly and he also attempts to flirt with her. The two find Czolgosz as they sing about a gun's impact on the world. Byck sits on a park bench and is writing a letter to Leonard Bernstein. While writing, he discovers that he is ignored by the world. Byck wants to be noticed and make a difference, so he decides to assassinate President Richard Nixon. Fromme and Moore meet once again and this time talk of assassinating President Gerald Ford.

The Balladeer and The Proprietor narrate the following attempts through song with the assassins joining in. One day after being at the bar, Zangara had attempted to assassinate President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Zangara is put into the electric chair and executed. After devising his plan, Byck heads to the airport to hijack a plane. On the radio, we hear that his attempt on Nixon's life was a failure and in a twist of irony, he didn't even delay Nixon's schedule. Booth hangs himself so he does not fall in the hands of the police. Czolgosz goes to the World Fair to shake hands with President McKinley. Once it is his turn to shake hands with the president, he pulls out his gun. After being denied a kiss by Moore, Guiteau goes to the train station to ask President James Garfield if he can be the US Ambassador to France. After Garfield says no, Guiteau pulls out his gun. Guiteau gladly walks to the gallows where he is hanged. Fromme and Moore go to find Ford. Dressed as a nun, Fromme gets her chance first. Her gun doesn't go off. Moore's turn was next, but she dropped her bullets everywhere. Oblivious to what was going on around him, President Ford tried to help Moore pick up her bullets. Moore resulted to throwing her bullets at Ford which was, of course, a failure. Lastly, Hinckley attempts to assassinate President Ronald Reagan, but does not succeed. Out of the eight assassins, four fail and four succeed. The Balladeer and The Proprietor now tell all the assassins, living or dead, that their actions didn't solve any problems and that if they want to solve their problems, they must follow the American Dream. The assassins refused this idea because assassinating the president was their American Dream. Now, all of the assassins assemble on the sixth floor of a building in Texas. They see a young man named Lee Harvey Oswald about to commit suicide. Booth tells him that if he really wants to solve his problems, that he should kill the president. Oswald looks out of the window and see President John Fitzgerald Kennedy driving by. Booth hands him a gun.

Back at the fairground where the film started, the assassins and now Oswald restate their motto, "Everybody's Got the Right" and fire their guns at the camera to close the film.

What the press would say:

After the wave of movie musicals lately, I figured that Milos Forman's new film "Assassins" wouldn't stand out and would fall in the category that "Rent" and "The Producers" ended up in. I was completely wrong. Based on Stephen Sondheim's hit musical, "Assassins" follows the infamous assassins (and would-be assassins) of American History. This isn't your typical story line. The film shows all of the assassins interact with each other (no matter what the time period) and then shows all of assassinations, or attempted assassinations. Some of the musical is fiction but there still is lots of history in the film. The Balladeer and The Proprietor are played by Neil Patrick Harris (reprising his Broadway role) and Hank Azaria, respectively. The Balladeer acts as a narrator. The Proprietor is the instigator. Harris plays The Balladeer as the angel on your left shoulder and Azaria plays The Proprietor as the devil on your right. They are both magnificent as Harris sings his heart out and Azaria plays evil while pretending to be good. If I were to pick one that was better, it would have to be Hank Azaria. Azaria's great voice and his conniving character make him a key player in this year's Best Actor race. Michael Cerveris returns to his Tony Award-winning role as John Wilkes Booth. Cerveris starts the fun of "Assassins" as he shouts out "Sic Semper Tyrannus!" at the end of the first number and the show's signature number: "Everybody's Got the Right". Cerveris is top notch and after winning the Broadcast Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor, he starts this awards season off with a bang (no pun intended). However, Cerveris was not the only winner of the BFCA this year. He tied with his costar Paul Giamatti who plays Charles Guiteau, the assassin of President James Garfield. Giamatti is great, but it is one major scene that has put him on the awards circuit this year. In the number "The Ballad of Guiteau", Guiteau is walking up the steps to the gallows to be hanged. But that doesn't phase him at all of being a bad thing. He sings about heaven and the goodness of God. You truly believe Giamatti as he sings (who knew he could sing?) his way to a Best Supporting Actor nomination. The two women of the cast, Bebe Neuwirth and Toni Collette, are so much fun to watch. Neuwirth plays Sara Jane Moore, the would-be assassin of President Gerald Ford. Her part is the main comic relief of the film. Whether it be attempting to shoot a gun at a bucket of chicken or when she tells Toni Collette's character about herself (what she tells her is completely false), Neuwirth is amazing to watch. But not only does Neuwirth display comedy, but she also plays drama when she drops her bullets all over the groud when she was about to assassinate Ford. This is a comical scene, but you actually feel sorry for Moore as she scrambles on the ground to pick up her bullets. I guess the reason why Moore was my favorite character is because Neuwirth just makes it incredible. Toni Collette plays Charles Manson's muse Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, the other woman accused of attempting to assassinate Gerald Ford. Fromme, or "Squeaky" as she is referred to, is also a great role and Collette plays her to perfection. Collette is so much fun to watch as a pot-smoking, crazy, and devoted maniac. "Assassins" is a joy to watch and the musical numbers are very impressive. The singing is amazing, the acting is phenomenal, and the direction is outstanding. "Assassins" is the best movie musical in the last ten years. To say that this film has a good chance of taking the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, and the Academy Awards by storm is not true. Expect a cyclone.

Best Picture
Best Director: Milos Forman
Best Actor Hank Azaria
Best Actor: Neil Patrick Harris (Golden Globes only)
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Cerveris
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti
Best Supporting Actress: Bebe Neuwirth
Best Supporting Actress: Toni Collette
Best Adapted Screenplay: John Logan
Best Costume Design
Best Cinematography