Assassination Tango

2002 Drama

Leading man Robert Duvall writes and directs his third feature, the romantic thriller Assassination Tango. John J. (Duvall) is an aging hit man who has settled down into family life in New York with teacher Maggie (Kathy Baker). After he is offered a good sum of money, he accepts a job to kill an Argentinean General in Buenos Aires. When he gets there, he finds out he has to wait three weeks to finish the job, so he stays in Argentina and studies the tango. He meets young dancer Manuela (real-life girlfriend Luciana Pedraza making her film debut) and the two become dance partners and begin to flirt with one another. Meanwhile, the assignment lingers.

Director: Robert Duvall

Starring: Robert Duvall, Ruben Blades, Luciana Pedraza, Kathy Baker, Julio Oscar Mechoso

Reviews

  • Acting doesn't get more personal, or much greater.

    Owen Gleiberman - Entertainment Weekly

    29 November 2012

  • A wonderfully eccentric piece of filmmaking -- to demand it cohere to formula would be to miss the point.

    Manohla Dargis - Los Angeles Times

    29 November 2012

  • The movie is not quite successful. It is too secretive about its heart.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    29 November 2012

  • There isn't any kind of dance you can compare to Robert Duvall's latest as an actor/director, though a slo-mo minuet might come close.

    Mike Clark - USA Today

    29 November 2012

  • If Mr. Duvall's finely textured performance is a testament to the power of good screen acting to lift a film above the mundane, the movie's many irritating tics demonstrate that he is much more at home in front of the camera than behind it.

    Stephen Holden - The New York Times

    29 November 2012

Awards

  • Robert Duvall

    Deauville Film Festival (2003)