Sean Penn puts in one of his best performances to date in this highly underrated thriller based on true life events.
Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Don Cheadle
Based on real life events, Assassination is set in 1974 and centers on a businessman (Penn) who decides to take extreme measures to achieve his American dream.
DVD Release Date: April 26, 2005
Stats: 695 reviews
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Flixster Reviews (695)
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September 16, 2009
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June 14, 2009
Depressing movie. It shows the troubles of an every day man and also the extremes he takes because of his misfortune.
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May 1, 2009
"I am but a grain of sand. The meek shall not inherit the earth. The earth belongs to the bullies who do not care how they get to the top."
A film inspired by a true story about the life of an ordinary man who plotted t...( read more) -
December 18, 2008
"The mad story of a true man."
Sam Bicke (Sean Penn) is a salesman for an office-supply company whose life is slowly beginning to unravel. Bicke's job is going nowhere, his wife, Marie (Naomi Watts), has left him, and his boss (Jack Thompson) keeps pushing self-help boo...( read more) -
November 5, 2008
Based on true events that also inspired Taxi Driver this is the story of a man who is slowly losing control over his life on pretty much every level and starts blaming society and the government, culminating in a crazy assassination attempt on the president of the USA. Sean Penn ...( read more)
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February 5, 2010
Penn's Samuel Bicke shares a lot of the same qualities of Travis Bickle. Both are socially inept guys who believe they live by a higher code, but are desperately looking for some sort of cause to latch onto, and ultimately channels their disappointment into murder that they beli...( read more)
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January 19, 2010
Sean Penn delivers his usual excellent performance in an engaging film.
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January 2, 2010
well umn just seen this movie 4 the 1st time n think that this is a good movie 2 watch.....its got a good cast of actors/actressess thorughout this movie....i think that sean penn, naomi watts, don cheadle play good roles/parts thorughout this movie.......i think that the directo...( read more)
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December 9, 2009
Did he really tried to assassinate Nixon? I didn't see Nixon in the movie, just in the TV of the movie. Overall, it's a sad movie of a working man having nothing going his way, that led him to insanity.
Critic Reviews
The movie is at times startling in its impact. full review
Has neither the freaky electricity of Taxi Driver nor the gloomy resonance of Death of a Salesman. full review
In a bravura performance, Sean Penn makes this whiny schlemiel a character of such piercing pathos that Sam will rattle around in your brain for weeks. full review
This is a character study of a marginal man who goes off the rails, and Penn is brilliant at evoking how daily life itself is filled, for Bicke, with countless challenges to his rigid sense of right a... full review
A faithful portrait of a period in American social history and a character study of a man struggling to make sense of his life, using conflicting American myths as his guide. full review
This riveting film qualifies as the anti-crowd-pleaser -- but Penn makes it unthinkable to turn away. full review
hampered by its unimaginative resemblance to Taxi Driver full review
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