What happens when a hitman gets old? That’s the central question of London Calling, Allan Ungar’s R-rated action-comedy that pairs Josh Duhamel with Jeremy Ray Taylor in one of the unlikeliest and surprisingly most entertaining buddy movies of the year.
Duhamel, briefly bald at the start and looking like he walked straight out of a Hitman game, plays Tommy Ward, a washed-up assassin on the run after killing the wrong man. His only shot at survival means babysitting Julian (Taylor), the timid, socially awkward son of a Los Angeles crime boss (Rick Hoffman). Naturally, their odd-couple pairing spirals into shootouts, showdowns, and a hilariously heartwarming crash course in becoming a man.
Ungar leans into buddy-action traditions, think Lethal Weapon meets Bad Santa, with plenty of banter, bickering, and bonding along the way. Not every gag hits: some of the “English” humor feels out of place, and a few running jokes fall flat. But when it works, it works. The “teach you how to fight” sequence is one of the funniest (and most unexpectedly sweet) scenes in recent memory, capturing the same broken-but-bonding energy that made Billy Bob Thornton so oddly affecting.
The film’s comedy balances against some genuinely solid action. The kills are surprisingly sharp for a movie leaning into absurdity, and Ungar pulls off slick camerawork when introducing rival hitmen. A mid-film shootout set to Strauss’s “Blue Danube” is staged with such balletic precision that it has no business being as good as it is, and yet, it’s one of the film’s highlights.
Jeremy Ray Taylor shakes off the “fat, funny kid” label from It, delivering a performance that mixes Clark Duke–style sarcasm with moments of genuine vulnerability. His delivery grounds Julian’s awkwardness while letting the absurdity shine. Watching him learn to drive in the middle of a crime spree shouldn’t feel natural, but somehow it does.
Rick Hoffman, best known for Suits, is a revelation here. He absolutely nails Benson, Julian’s ruthless and perpetually disappointed father, playing him as the perfect prick who still manages to be funny. Aidan Gillen (forever “Littlefinger” to many) adds menace with his trademark slippery charisma. And credit to casting, the criminals actually look like criminals, lending authenticity to the underworld setting.
Not everything lands. The film runs a little long, stretching some jokes thinner than necessary. An extended LARPing subplot tries too hard to underline the theme of “finding yourself” and could have been trimmed, even if it delivers a few late laughs. And while accents add texture, a few are so thick they make dialogue nearly indecipherable.
London Calling is a messy film in all the right ways. Some of the dumbest jokes work better than the carefully set-up ones, and the movie thrives on that chaos. Like Role Models with more bullets, it shouldn’t work, but somehow it does. Between the violent absurdity, the ridiculous bonding, and the flashes of genuine heart, it’s a scrappy action-comedy that earns its spot among the year’s most entertaining surprises.
Jessie Hobson