Harockerce What a beautiful movie!

Lawbolisted Powerful

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

ComedyFan2010 A coming of age story where a high school kid has to talk to an old guy for an assignment and ends up forming a sort of a friendship with his next door neighbor who has been an assassin and is about too die.It is not a very original idea, but it is a very enjoyable movie. Actually it is a bit of a more original young guy being friends with old guy story because of the whole last assassination mission. Besides all the characters are great. I also like the guy's mother played by Sarah Silverman. When she is worried Ashby is touching her son it is a very funny moment.Mickey Rourke is absolutely perfect in his role. It is a great character and he also manages to make us love him all the way. We can also see him being influenced by his younger friend. This makes the story so much sweeter when we see people in all stages of life learning from each other.

Gino Cox "Ashby" is a passable coming-of-age dramedy-slash-bromance with a strong performance by Mickey Rourke and ambitions or pretensions to address serious dramatic questions; however, it never rises above the level of a Hallmark or Lifetime presentation. The story has about half a dozen interwoven subplots, but doesn't explore any of them in a particularly satisfactory manner. One subplot concerns the protagonist's mother who describes herself as a sexual individual who enjoys sex, while recognizing the need to be "proactive" in her pursuit of a new husband, but whose behavior seems a bit promiscuous to her sexually repressed and socially awkward son. There are opportunities to contrast her uninhibited approach with her son's awkward missteps and an opportunity for a liaison with her enigmatic neighbor, neither of which is explored. Ed, her son and the putative protagonist, involves himself in her relationship and suddenly the dramatic question is resolved without much effort on his part or impact on his own faltering efforts to find love. The protagonist also exacts a promise from the title character which has profound effects, but he doesn't need to confront those effects or grow from the experience or choice he made. Several of the subplots are tied up very neatly with bright ribbons at the conclusion; however, the outcomes don't seem earned. Also, there are a lot of loose ends. A series of MRI scans is never used. A cell phone image could be part of a police investigation. A secretive agency sends a team to eliminate an individual, but leaves his home, computer and records untouched. The movie has several elaborate props which might be interesting in their own right, but somehow seem out of place. One is a contraption for throwing footballs and an elaborate obstacle course that would seem to require about three times as much space as is available and mechanical skills to construct that the builder doesn't seem to possess. A second is a MRI scanner in the private residence of a deceased doctor which is operated by an individual with no training. It makes no sense that the widow would keep such an expensive piece of equipment and the person who operates it never actually uses any of its output, despite professing an interest to study the effects of concussions, despite a lack of medical training. The third is an extensive private armory owned by somebody who supposedly hasn't had any need for any of the knives, automatic firearms or vials of exotic drugs for over a decade. At 20, Nat Wolff delivers a passable performance as an awkward 17-year-old; however, at 24, Emma Roberts seems too mature for a nerdy high school student. It's not that she looks old, but her mannerisms somehow seem a little too confident and mature. Some elements seem contrived, such as the way that assassination orders are conveyed. A scene with a team of assassins dispatched to murder an American citizen in the obligatory black SUV seems lifted from some comic or graphic novel. The premise is more promising than the production. A seasoned assassin who has had unshakable confidence in his actions develops doubts as he approaches death. Meanwhile a young man who lacks his experience, skills and confidence must make a life- or-death decision. But the movie shies away from any firm stance. It relies too much on props instead of story. It has a few amusing moments. There's a gag when the son walks in on his mother at an awkward moment with a funny bit of business as a punch line. But other attempts seem forced, such as when several rowdy students simultaneously pelt a nerd with crumpled papers. Production values are adequate, but seem at a television drama level. What could have been a narrow escape involving several police cars is anticlimactic. Bullet wounds are virtually bloodless. Sex scenes are fully clothed.

alexisotero1 I liked it, I consider it a good movie. It's different than other movies and at the end of the movie I felt I had received a good message. I think the story is good without clichés and everybody performance was focused. It was good to see beautiful Emma Roberts and also Mickey Rourke.I like since the beginning it made me laugh with a the bj scene, and also I think it was really good it didn't take the way of typical movies, there were like 5 different scenarios in which the movies could take direction but it didn't, that helped to make this movie a good and different movie without the typical options, I consider that it has more realism than other movies.Thanks

NateWatchesCoolMovies Ashby is a departure for Mickey Rourke, as he's been kind of slumming it in B movie junk for a few years. That changes here. Rourke's cowboy machismo and brooding vibe of danger is genius and takes on a whole new light when contrasted with the bright, idiosyncratic realm of the low key indie dramedy. It's a perfect concoction of ingredients, a melding of today's millennial teen angst with the battle scarred remnants of 1990's gritty pulp fare. Here Mickey plays Ashby Holt, an ex CIA assassin quietly residing in present day suburbia. He becomes aimlessly lost when he finds out he has terminal cancer, and is given three months to live. Next door, a high school kid (Nat Wolff) who's new in town tries to fit in with his peers, and make new friends while his incredibly insecure mother (Sarah Silverman♡) also tries to.. make new friends, I guess you could say. When he gets a class project to interview an 'old person', he spots Ashby, and reaches out. Ashby needs a driver, and the two strike an amiable enough relationship that's both tragically funny and a sly statement on the addled nature of youths today. Gradually Ashby becomes sort of a father figure to him, and the bond deepens. Nat also strikes up a romance with a peculiar girl played by Emma Roberts. She's one who usually plays the bitchy bimbo, but here wonderfully surprised me by giving the quirky outsider girl just the right amount of depth and empathy. You might just not recognize her, taking on the kind of oddball role her father Eric is famous for. There's scene stealing work from Kevin Dunn as well, playing a cantankerous football coach. The film briefly falls victim to 'quirky for the sake of quirky' indie tropes, and initially I was detached and wished it would bring it in more and smarten up. No one likes too much of that hipster bullshit lol. But it does, pulling back the curtains of glib comic inaccessibility to slow itself down and distill emotional, realistic work from its actors, the wonderful script a playground for them to explore. Rourke brings the best work he's done since The Wrestler, and is nothing short of sensational. When he's given the right material, he soars higher than most actors ever dream of reaching, and he finds the regret, sympathy, coldness and wounded spirit mentality of Ashby. He NEEDS more roles like this. Nat Wolff is a bit of a 'natterer' at first and got on my nerves a touch, but he grows on you, his naive sweetness a fascinating opposite to Rourke's weary burnout sadness. Fans of Rourke (he's my second favourite actor of all time) will find a gold mine in this one, and casual viewers should enjoy it's unassuming first half, and be moved by the down to earth second act that gives the characters the full circle arc they deserve. Well done.