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‘the assignment’: film review | tiff 2016.

Sigourney Weaver stars as a twisted surgeon and Michelle Rodriguez as the man she turns into a woman in Walter Hill's '(Re)Assignment.'

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

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A demented pulp fiction about a brilliant surgeon who creates a Frankenstein monster by performing a sex change on the scumbag assassin who killed her brother, The Assignment (previously titled (Re)Assignment ) is, by any objective standard, a disreputable slice of bloody sleaze. But there’s also no question that veteran director and co-writer Walter Hill knows exactly what he’s doing here, wading waist-deep into Frank Miller Sin City territory and using genre tropes to explore some provocatively, even outrageously transgressive propositions. For longtime fans of the filmmaker, this Canadian-made low-budget revenge yarn will be embraced as Hill’s most entertaining and, on the terms it sets for itself, accomplished film in some time. It’s an instant cult item.

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In a public climate arguably more saturated with discussions of gender than ever in the history of the world, Hill and his co-screenwriter Denis Hamill make subversive creative use of the topic in ways that are both brainy and amusingly provocative. The catalyst for all the mayhem is genius, but now defrocked plastic surgeon Dr. Rachel Kay ( Sigourney Weaver in intimidatingly imposing mode), whose revenge upon low-life hitman Frank Kitchen, who took out her brother, is to capture him and apply her expertise by turning him into a woman (Michelle Rodriguez); in a world where transgenderism is now an accepted fact of life, this is one example where it is neither voluntary nor desired.

The Bottom Line A deliciously transgressive and smart classic B movie.

Intercutting between Rachel’s interrogation by shrink Dr. Ralph Green (Tony Shalhoub ) and the hatching of the now-female Frank’s extensive revenge-taking for what’s been done to him/her physically results in a great deal of exposition. But Hill keeps it lively and interesting, on one hand by supplying the brilliant Rachel with lots of blunt and high-toned commentary about how and why she’s done what she did; on an intellectual level, she and Hannibal Lecter would be an even match.

On the other, there’s the spectacle of watching Frank come to grips — and this is meant literally — with “her” own new body. Without any self-consciousness, Rodriguez enacts a thorough physical self-inspection from top to bottom, and her former tough guy character remains infuriated by having been deprived of the equipment he used to enjoy. All the same, she eventually reconnects with a young nurse and part-time good-times girl (Caitlin Gerard) “he” had hooked up with just prior to his unwanted conversion.

A good part of the action involves the extensive revenge Frank exacts upon a local San Francisco gangster, Honest John (Anthony LaPaglia ), for an earlier betrayal; plenty of bad guys get blown away here in bloody fashion, and Frank really is remorseless. In this world, much of it set in San Francisco’s Chinatown (actually shot in Vancouver), everyone is guilty — or, to paraphrase Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven , everyone’s got it coming.

Hill, production designer Renee Read and cinematographer James Liston immediately establish and then maintain the look of a seedy urban world defined by dirty browns and blacks, as well as by dimly lit streets, a lonely diner and a seedy old hotel; this is as noir as it gets these days. On numerous occasions, sequences end with visual punctuation courtesy of graphic comics-style illustrations.

The somber tone and low-end production values may not be exactly in tune with young neo-noir enthusiasts, but more seasoned fans of the genre and the filmmaker will recognize and embrace Hill’s use of noir to play with and comment on topical issues in a deliciously subversive way, political correctness be damned. At the same time, however, a witty intellectual loftiness hovers over everything thanks to the erudite remarks ceaselessly pouring from the mouth of Weaver’s doctor, who likes to confound her interrogator with frequent references to Shakespeare.   

Weaver’s terrifically articulated performance neatly establishes the top side of the film’s high/low dynamic. For her part of the equation, Rodriguez, with momentary exceptions, maintains a virulent charge of fury, anger and disgust with what’s been done to him/her, something that quite plausibly drives the vengeful mission. It’s a story of two killers, one of whom operates from the brain, the other from more basic instincts, and together they’re quite a pair for one movie.

Venue: Toronto Film Festival (Special Presentation)

Production: SBS Films

Cast: Michelle Rodriguez, Tony Shalhoub , Anthony LaPaglia , Caitlin Gerard, Sigourney Weaver

Director: Walter Hill

Screenwriters: Walter Hill, Denis Hamill

Producers: Said Ben Said, Michel Merkt

Director of photography: James Liston

Production designer: Renee Read

Costume designer: Ellen Anderson

Editor: Philip Norden

Music: Giorgio Moroder , Raney Shockne

Casting: Sheila Jaffe , Candice Elzinga

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The Assignment

Cast & crew.

Michelle Rodriguez

Frank Kitchen

Sigourney Weaver

Dr. Rachel Jane

Tony Shalhoub

Dr. Ralph Galen

Caitlin Gerard

Anthony LaPaglia

Honest John

Violent thriller irresponsibly tackles transgender themes.

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© 2016 SBS Films

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The assignment, common sense media reviewers.

Violent thriller irresponsibly tackles transgender themes.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Gender reassignment surgery is portrayed as an exp

Main character Frank is a hired killer who commits

Gender reassignment surgery, which can be life-aff

Brutal shootings/killings. Blood sprays/spurts. De

Full-frontal male and female nudity. Sex scene wit

Frequent strong language includes "f--k," "f--king

Brands of hormone tablets Premarin and Prevara are

Secondary character snorts cocaine on-screen. Scen

Parents need to know that The Assignment is an action/thriller with an irresponsibly handled topic at its core: The main character, an assassin, is given gender reassignment surgery against his will, changing his body from male to female. The content is extremely mature, including graphic nudity (male and…

Positive Messages

Gender reassignment surgery is portrayed as an experiment and punishment performed against someone's will. The film suggests that revenge can be warranted, offering satisfaction after trauma. However, glimpses of empathy can be found in the darkest of moments.

Positive Role Models

Main character Frank is a hired killer who commits violent acts and seeks revenge after being the victim of non-consensual gender-reassignment surgery. Frank generally shows little regard for others' lives but does have a strong determination to survive and extends empathy toward a dog and a character he has grown to care for, despite her double-crossing behavior. Dr. Rachel Jane puts scientific discovery before others' suffering, cruelly experimenting on unhoused people. She's arrogant and vengeful and shows no remorse for her actions.

Diverse Representations

Gender reassignment surgery, which can be life-affirming (if not life-saving) for individuals, is portrayed here as non-consensual and experimental, used as a punishment. Frank tries to get his surgery reversed, saying he thought it's what he wanted, which plays into damaging narratives about people changing their minds about surgery. Pre-surgery Frank is played by cisgender female actor Michelle Rodriguez in a mustache, beard, and chest plate, and she puts on a deep voice. Post-surgery Frank has a relationship with a woman; during sex, he says "I'll do what I can," implying that intimacy between two female bodies is somehow lesser than heterosexual sex. Offensive moments include a male doctor asking a female doctor whether she commits crimes because she didn't have a good sex life. Female bodies are sexualized, including Frank using his naked breasts to distract other men. A psychiatric hospital is referred to as the "nut house." Racist language is used toward a Chinese character, including "chinky" and "Chinaman." There's some ethnic diversity within the cast -- Rodriguez is Dominican-Puerto Rican and there are actors of Chinese and Middle Eastern descent in supporting roles.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Brutal shootings/killings. Blood sprays/spurts. Dead bodies. Kicking, beating. Streaming blood. Bloody wounds. Brief images of surgery relating to non-consensual gender reassignment, with gory, bloody cotton/bandages. Hypo needle held to neck. Attempted sexual assault, followed by perpetrator being beaten to death with a baseball bat. Passing mention of death of father and brother. Reference to dog fighting and killing dogs.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Full-frontal male and female nudity. Sex scene with thrusting (includes tearing open condom wrapper). Woman in sexy underwear; there's mention of paying for sex, implying that she's a sex worker. References to "pimps" and "hookers."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Frequent strong language includes "f--k," "f--king," "motherf--king," "bulls--t," "s--t," "s--thead," "t-ts," "ass," "a--hole," "bastard," "douchebag," "piss," "hell," "goddamn," and "idiot," as well as racial slurs ("chinky" and "Chinaman").

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Brands of hormone tablets Premarin and Prevara are mentioned and taken by a character.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Secondary character snorts cocaine on-screen. Scenes of heavy drinking straight from liquor bottles. Social drinking. Drugs shown, including hormone tablets taken by lead character.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Assignment is an action/thriller with an irresponsibly handled topic at its core: The main character, an assassin, is given gender reassignment surgery against his will, changing his body from male to female. The content is extremely mature, including graphic nudity (male and female full frontal), bloody shootings, beatings, and killings, and brief but semi-graphic sex scenes. Language includes "f--k," "s--t," and "a--hole," plus racist terms like "chinky" and "Chinaman." Characters use drugs, including cocaine, and the main character occasionally drinks alcohol (sometimes too much). Due to the mature (and badly handled) themes and violent and sexual content, the movie is appropriate only for older teens and adults. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

In THE ASSIGNMENT, a prickly, Shakespeare-and-Poe-quoting surgeon, Dr. Rachel Kay ( Sigourney Weaver ), lives in a psychiatric hospital and is interviewed by Dr. Ralph Galen ( Tony Shalhoub ). She tells her story in flashback. Her brother, in trouble with gangsters, becomes the target of an assassin named Frank Kitchen ( Michelle Rodriguez ). Dr. Kay subsequently kidnaps Frank and performs non-consensual gender reassignment surgery on him as revenge. And so Kitchen awakens in a female body, and, after searching for a way to reverse the procedure (and failing), decides to get his revenge on everyone connected to Dr. Kay -- all the way up to dangerous, well-protected gangster "Honest John" ( Anthony LaPaglia ).

Is It Any Good?

This thriller starts out with a ludicrous and irresponsibly handled idea. Even directed in a pulpy, creative way by Walter Hill (who worked with Weaver on Alien as producer and is best-known for directing action classics like The Warriors and 48 Hrs. ), The Assignment struggles to escape its misguided premise. Certainly the film is inauthentic, casting cisgender female actor Rodriguez to play both pre- and post-surgery versions of a male character. And though The Assignment tries to praise trans people for their courage, its portrayal of gender reassignment surgery as a punishment plays into damaging narratives. When real-life discrimination against trans people is a huge problem in society, it makes it difficult to concentrate on the movie's redeeming features.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about The Assignment 's violence . Does it feel gratuitous or necessary? What impact does the pulpy nature of the filmmaking have? Does associating it with comic book violence change how you view it?

The film centers on a character who has non-consensual gender reassignment surgery as a punishment. What message do you think this sends about surgery for transgender people? Why is it important to be conscious and careful about portrayals like this on-screen?

How does the movie portray drinking and drug use ? Does it make substance use seem enjoyable? Glamorous? Or does it seem sad/desperate? Are there consequences ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : April 7, 2017
• On DVD or streaming : June 6, 2017
• Cast : Michelle Rodriguez , Sigourney Weaver , Tony Shalhoub
• Director : Walter Hill
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Latino actors, Middle Eastern/North African actors
• Studio : Saban Films
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Run time : 95 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : graphic nudity, violence, sexuality, language and drug use
• Last updated : November 6, 2023

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Film / The Assignment (2016)

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This film provides examples of:

• Asshole Victim : Everybody who Frank murders (except for maybe Sebastian, but even he's a jerk who threw away the money that his sister provided to pay his debt) are criminals whom he notes no one will miss.
• Attempted Rape : Post sex reassignment, Frank is nearly raped by the sleazy owner of the hotel that he was put in. Frank overpowers and beats up the guy, then flees the premises.
• Attractive Bent-Gender : Post unwilling sex reassignment, Frank appears in a very attractive female form (played by Michelle Rodriguez in both cases, though the first in makeup obviously).
• Big Bad : Dr. Rachel Jane, the main villain of the film, who's a mad doctor .
• Big "NO!" : Frank yells this after seeing he's been made physically female.
• Body Horror : Being made physically female serves as this for Frank, especially at first.
• Bond Villain Stupidity : Dr. Rachel Jane, instead of killing Frank (possibly after extended surgical torture) subjects him to an involuntary sex reassignment and leaves him alive that way, with ample ability to track her down. Later, when her mooks catch him, they also didn't search him at all it seems since they miss his hidden gun which he uses to shoot them after waking up.
• Crosscast Role : Michelle Rodriguez plays Frank, a male hitman (by means of a fake beard and some prosthetics initially) who's subjected to an Easy Sex Change by a Mad Doctor who wanted revenge on him because he had killed her brother. For the rest of the film, he looks like Rodriguez normally does (obviously the reason for this).
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check : If Jane could perform an Easy Sex Change that could make you look like Michelle Rodriguez , she should have been able to make enough money to buy whatever revenge she wanted.
• Easy Sex Change : It's unclear just how long, but within very little time Jane performs a full set of sex reassignment surgeries on Frank, altering his cheeks, throat, nose and genitals. This isn't possible, willing or not, as he'd need time for recovery from each one. There's no indication that he was held very long however. Of course, since he's played by Michelle Rodriguez , he comes out with her appearance (which is also implausible).
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones : Dr. Rachel Jane is coldly indifferent to most people, and views them as simply test subjects. However, she still feels something for her brother, and sought out the hitman who killed him in revenge. That hitman in question, Frank, is also an example. He has a girlfriend he's obviously fond of, and takes care of a pit bull who'd been forced to fight. Additionally, he's got some close Latino friends.
• Evil vs. Evil : Frank is a hitman who freely admits he's bad and has killed many people. Dr. Rachel Jane, his nemesis, is a mad doctor who experimented on homeless people for medical research, and subjects him to involuntary sex reassignment for revenge when Frank kills her brother.
• Fan Disservice : Michelle Rodriguez as Frank shows full frontal nudity. However, as it's after he had been heavily bandaged and underwent extensive surgery, along with them being entirely unwilling procedures which freak him out, this is far less sexy than might be the case otherwise.
• Fanservice Extra : Near the beginning, Sebastian has a sex worker over in very revealing clothes. Frank's girlfriend Johnnie also appears briefly topless, and he interrupts one of his targets having sex with a naked Asian woman.
• Fingore : In the very last scene, it's revealed that Frank cut off Jane's fingers after shooting her (presumably so she couldn't do surgery ever again).
• Frame-Up : After shooting Jane's mooks , Frank makes it appear like her assistant killed them before being shot himself by putting the murder weapon into his hand. The police buy this, and don't believe her that he did it.
• Gender Bender Angst : Frank is very unhappy he was subjected to a forced sex reassignment, and even looks into a surgery that could at least somewhat undo this. However, he settles for vengeance against the mad doctor who did this instead as he's told it would never be the same.
• Gender Bender : Frank gets a full sex reassignment via magic plastic surgery , and the result is him then going from physically male to looking like Michelle Rodriguez (who played him in both cases).
• Get Out! : Frank yells this to one of his allies.
• Guns Akimbo : Frank wields guns in both hands multiple times during the film.
• Hitman with a Heart : Frank is shown to have a soft side. He's got some good friends, loves dogs (adopting one who'd been used for fighting) and displays genuine affection for his girlfriend.
• Hollywood Law : Dr. Rachel Jane is said to have been ruled incompetent to stand trial, so she's put into a mental institution instead, where a psychiatrist evaluates her to see if she's become competent (he decides she's not after attacking him). We see no indication she would be incompetent though, which simply means that they are able to understand the proceedings and aid in their defense. Jane is quite intelligent, so there's every indication she could do both of those things. Being ruled incompetent usually requires that a defendant be severely mentally impaired from disability, a mental illness, brain damage or senility.
• Hoist by Their Own Petard : After his unwanted sex reassignment, Frank gets back at Dr. Jane by mutilating her hands so she could never operate again .
• If It's You, It's Okay : After Frank's unwilling sex reassignment surgery, his girlfriend Johnnie has no problem continuing their relationship, suggesting this.
• The Loins Sleep Tonight : After his involuntary surgery, Frank tries to have sex with his girlfriend (having been made physically female). However, he isn't able to feel anything, and consults a doctor who tells him sensation won't come back for around six months.
• Mad Doctor : Dr. Rachel Jane is an arrogant though highly skilled surgeon with delusions of grandeur who's been stripped of her license for illegal experiments. After that, she operates illegally in an underground clinic, performing more experiments on homeless people for what she claims is advancing medical knowledge. However, when a hitman murders her brother, she subjects him to a sex reassignment both to punish and change him (supposedly) for the better. After he kills most of her employees, plus shooting her, in revenge, she's found out by the police and sent to a mental institution.
• Magic Plastic Surgery : Frank ( Michelle Rodriguez heavily made up to look male) becomes a female version of himself physically (Rodriguez as herself) after undergoing involuntary sex reassignment surgeries. This would in reality require long recovery time between each procedure and have visible scarring (the mad doctor who did it was just that good ).
• Male Frontal Nudity : Early on Frank shows this stepping out of the shower, perhaps to emphasize his appearance before he's given an unwilling sex reassignment.
• Man, I Feel Like a Woman : Frank feels up his new breasts after realizing what's happened, while looking at himself in the mirror. He seems more repelled than anything however.
• Morally Ambiguous Doctorate : Dr. Rachel Jane was a surgeon whose unethical and illegal experiments meant she lost her license. This didn't stop her though-she just went underground with them. However, this is contrasted with normal psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Gales who's assessing her and considers what she did completely wrong and notes she betrayed her oath as a physician.
• The Needs of the Many : Dr. Rachel Jane says her experiments on homeless people were for this, to advance medical knowledge which would benefit millions. Their lives, in comparison, meant nothing to her.
• Pet the Dog : Literally when Frank kills a Russian dog fighter and adopts the pooch, due to having a soft spot for dogs. And again when he learns Johnnie's partly responsible for what happened to him, but is too in love with her to execute her, so he sends her off to Reno for safety and possibly a new life.
• Professional Killer : Frank Kitchen is a hitman, and the plot is sparked by him murdering Dr. Rachel Jane's brother over an unpaid debt he owed to criminals.
• Revenge : Dr. Rachel Jane wants revenge on Frank, the hitman who murdered her brother. So she gets a crime lord to kidnap him, then performs a sex reassignment (partly to "help" him in her view). He's horrified, then seeks revenge on her in turn, along with employees of the gangster who helped kidnap him for Jane, then them and also her mooks .
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge : After learning what was done to him, Frank goes after the criminal employees of gangster "Honest John" who helped Dr. Jane to do this, killing them off before he gets John himself, then Jane and her mooks after this. Jane survives, but is left stuck in a mental institution with no fingers, courtesy of Frank cutting them off.
• Tomboyish Name : Johnnie, Frank's girlfriend. It's unclear if this is short for anything. Aside from this however she isn't a tomboy at all in her appearance or actions.
• Understanding Boyfriend : Johnnie takes it to extreme heights, as she's completely unperturbed by Frank's new appearance, and has no questions or comments beyond noting how different he looks when she first sees him post sex reassignment. She stays with him afterward, completely accepting, without hesitation. It also seems she's entirely aware that he's a hitman, and doesn't mind at all. Then it's revealed that she was the one to set him up for the surgery in the first place at the behest of Dr. Jane, whom she'd been working for the whole time getting her the drugs for her experiments, and stayed around him to keep an eye on him.
• Understatement : Frank's girlfriend notes that he looks different after his involuntary sex reassignment, but makes no further comment. This is putting it very mildly. It's a wonder she recognized him. Before he had a beard and larger nose, as the most obvious examples.
• Villain Protagonist : Frank admits right in the opening voiceover monologue that he's a bad guy, and has probably deserved even more than what was done to him after he killed so many people. However, he isn't completely bad, and is seeking revenge on people that are on his level or even worse than him.
• Bullet to the Head
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“ The Assignment ” is a film that arrives in theaters having already inspired vast outpourings of anger from two groups —the transgender community, which appears to be offended by its very premise, and action buffs, who are put off both by the premise (albeit for different reasons) and what they feel is a lazy execution that fails to offer the requisite thrills. While I am sympathetic to the complaints of both groups (somewhat more for the former) and recognize that it is indeed deeply flawed in many areas, I cannot quite agree with either. This is a modestly scaled B-movie by one of the best genre filmmakers of our time, Walter Hill , that has enough skill and personality going for it to make it worth checking out, even if it doesn’t quite live up (or down, depending on your perspective) to its borderline sleazy premise.

And what is that premise, you ask? In a nutshell, Frank Kitchen ( Michelle Rodriguez … just keep reading) is a ruthless San Francisco hitman who runs afoul of Dr. Rachel Kay ( Sigourney Weaver ), a brilliant but deranged surgeon who has lost her license for conducting various rogue experiments. Frank kills Dr. Kay’s brother, and the good doctor seeks vengeance and experimental research into the importance of physical identity on the psyche. She arranges with crime boss Honest John Hartunian ( Anthony LaPaglia ) to have him grab Frank and bring him to her secret lab, where she proceeds to perform gender reassignment surgery on him. Dr. Kay asserts that the surgery will take away Frank’s desire to kill. Needless to say, Frank sees things a little differently, and, once she discovers that the surgery cannot be reversed, she methodically hatches a grisly revenge plot on everyone involved with her transformation from Honest John and his goons all the way up to Dr. Kay. Helping Frank in her quest is Johnnie ( Caitlin Gerard ), a nurse with whom Frank had a one-night stand before his transformation and who doesn’t seem particularly nonplussed by recent developments, though it seems that she may be harboring a few secrets of her own.

At first blush, one can easily understand why the transgender community might be a tad put off by the very existence of “The Assignment,” but the actual film is nowhere near as offensive as it might initially seem. For one thing, the film as a whole is so willfully and deliberately pulpy in tone (I could easily see a short version of this tale fitting perfectly into the confines of a “ Sin City ” film) that it is hard to take the alleged provocations on display with any degree of seriousness—this is a film that is so archetypal in nature that the sort-of sweethearts at its center are literally named Frank(ie) and Johnnie. Additionally, to suggest that Frank is meant to represent all transgender people is nonsense because he is clearly not one himself, and, outside of the obvious physical construct, little about him changes after undergoing his forced surgery. I would also point out that no less of a filmmaker than Pedro Almodovar used the notion of unwilling gender reassignment surgery as a plot point in his own unabashed genre exercise, “ The Skin I Live In ,” and no one seemed especially put off by it even though the deployment there was arguably more questionable from a taste perspective than what is seen here.

That said, “The Assignment” is still a problematic work in many ways from a purely cinematic perspective. The screenplay by Hill & Denis Hamill (which Hill has been toying with since the late ‘70s) is an awkward construction with much of the story presented in a series of flashbacks, as the now-incarcerated Dr. Kay recounts the story to another psychiatrist ( Tony Shalhoub ). This concept is especially problematic since Hill is at his best when he allows characters to define themselves purely through their actions instead of relentlessly explaining themselves as they do here. The film also screams out for a more overtly stylized visual treatment in the vein of something like his great “ Streets of Fire ”—a fact underlined by the occasional bits of black-and-white photography and comic book-style transitions—that might have also helped to underscore the kind of pulpy approach Hill was clearly going for. Another big problem, at least at first, is the casting of Michelle Rodriguez as Frank. There is nothing wrong with her performance but the early scenes in which she portrays the male version of Frank, complete with a wildly unconvincing beard and a lingering close-up of his genitalia for good measure, do inspire a few bad laughs right when the film is trying to establish itself. For some viewers, it may never recover from that.

For those who can get beyond that, “The Assignment” contains plenty of points of interest. Sigourney Weaver is pretty much a blast throughout as the snidely condescending doctor who sets all of the events into motion. As for Rodriguez, once she sheds the beard, her performance improves greatly. Obviously, we know she can do the steely-eyed badass stuff as well as anyone else but she also gets a couple of quieter moments amidst the chaos where she displays a more vulnerable side without stepping out of character—in one, she consults a doctor about whether the surgery can be reversed and begins shyly inquiring about certain personal details regarding her new equipment. In the other, she is about to go to bed with Johnnie when she realizes that she has no idea of how to approach lovemaking from a female perspective. (“You’ll do fine,” she is reassured in a line that is both funny and strangely touching.) As for Hill, while he is clearly working with a lower budget than usual here (with Vancouver substituting, not too convincingly, for San Francisco), he is still able to establish a convincingly noir attitude toward the material and the scenes of violence are done in a spare and economical style that is a relief from the over-the-top pyrotechnics of most current action films. (He also gets bonus points for employing Giorgio Moroder to deliver a cheerfully retro synth score.)

It is easy to see how the dramatic excesses of the plot could prove offensive to the transgender community, though I can just as easily see “The Assignment” one day becoming a cult favorite in the way that the once-controversial “ Cruising ” would eventually find some fans within the gay community that once scorned it. As an exercise in unapologetic pulp fiction, it gets the job done in a smart, efficient and slyly subversive manner. As the latest entry in the Walter Hill filmography, it definitely belongs on the second tier. Even though it may not be the equal to a classic like “ The Driver ” or “Streets of Fire,” it will do until that next masterwork does come along.

Peter Sobczynski

A moderately insightful critic, full-on Swiftie and all-around  bon vivant , Peter Sobczynski, in addition to his work at this site, is also a contributor to The Spool and can be heard weekly discussing new Blu-Ray releases on the Movie Madness podcast on the Now Playing network.

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The Assignment (2017)

Rated R for graphic nudity, violence, sexuality, language and drug use.

Michelle Rodriguez as Frank Kitchen / Tomboy

Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Rachel Kay

Tony Shalhoub as Dr. Ralph Galen

Caitlin Gerard as Johnnie

Anthony LaPaglia as Honest John Hartunian

Paul McGillion as Paul Wincott

• Walter Hill

Writer (story)

• Denis Hamill

Cinematographer

• James Liston
• Phil Norden
• Giorgio Moroder
• Raney Shockne

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The Assignment

Where to Watch

Michelle Rodriguez (Frank Kitchen) Tony Shalhoub (Dr. Ralph Galen) Anthony LaPaglia (Honest John) Caitlin Gerard (Johnnie) Ken Kirzinger (Nurse Becker) Darryl Quon (Jin Tao) Brent Langdon (Dr. Turley) Sigourney Weaver (Doctor Rachel Jane) Caroline Chan (Ting Li) Adrian Hough (Sebastian Jane)

Walter Hill

After waking up and discovering that he has undergone gender reassignment surgery, an assassin seeks to find the doctor responsible.

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Walter hill’s the assignment is a pulp fairy tale without a clue.

There are three things worth knowing about Walter Hill’s wacky pulp exercise The Assignment . The first is that the …

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Ace assassin Frank Kitchen is double crossed by gangsters and falls into the hands of rogue surgeon known as The Doctor who turns him into a woman. The hitman, now a hitwoman, sets out for revenge, aided by a nurse named Johnnie who also has secrets.

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The assignment.

2016 Directed by Walter Hill

A revenger's tale.

Ace assassin Frank Kitchen is double crossed by gangsters and falls into the hands of rogue surgeon known as The Doctor who turns him into a woman. The hitman, now a hitwoman, sets out for revenge, aided by a nurse named Johnnie who also has secrets.

Michelle Rodriguez Sigourney Weaver Tony Shalhoub Caitlin Gerard Anthony LaPaglia Paul McGillion Ken Kirzinger Paul Lazenby Zak Santiago Adrian Hough Alex Zahara Chad Riley Jason Asuncion Darryl Quon Hugo Ateo Sergio Osuna Terry Chen Lauro Chartrand Caroline Chan Lia Lam Eltie Pearce

Director Director

Walter Hill

Producers Producers

Saïd Ben Saïd Michel Merkt Sarah Borch-Jacobsen Kevin Chneiweiss Todd Giroux John Lind Harvey Kahn

Writers Writers

Denis Hamill Walter Hill

Casting Casting

Candice Elzinga Sheila Jaffe Sandra Couldwell

Editor Editor

Phil Norden

Cinematography Cinematography

James Liston

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

John Lind Annabelle Wilczur

Lighting Lighting

James M. Jackson Cameron Root Jason Weir

Camera Operators Camera Operators

Dale H. Jahraus Bruce Borland

Production Design Production Design

Set decoration set decoration.

Meredith Garstin A. Blair Stevens

Special Effects Special Effects

Visual effects visual effects.

Geena Renk Kris Wood Brent Boulet Jess Brown

Stunts Stunts

Jason Asuncion Melissa R. Stubbs Paul Lazenby

Composers Composers

Raney Shockne Giorgio Moroder

Sound Sound

James Fonnyadt Bryson Dodwell Bill Mellow Kelly Cole Daniel Cardona

Costume Design Costume Design

Ellen Anderson

Makeup Makeup

Courtney Frey Joel Echallier Agnieszka Echallier

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Jessica Rain

SBS Productions

Canada France USA

Releases by Date

11 sep 2016, 08 jun 2016, 27 apr 2017, 19 oct 2017, 23 nov 2017, 03 mar 2016, 23 mar 2017, 02 may 2017, 07 jun 2017, 03 apr 2016, releases by country.

• Premiere Toronto International Film Festival
• Theatrical M/16

South Korea

• Theatrical 18
• Digital 16 DVD & Bluray
• Physical 15 DVD
• Digital R internet

95 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Sally Jane Black 12

CW: HRT/transition-related surgery

We are not born into the wrong body. We are born into the wrong society.

As I take hormones to alter my body, I am not gaining a new body. My body is naturally reacting to the estrogen and testosterone-suppressors I am putting into it. It's still the same body I have always had. It's a different shape. It's softer. But it's the same body I have had for 35 years. When I get the surgery I need, I will not be losing my body, either. This is the right body for me. My transformation is merely one of presentation. It is no more radical than any other bodily changes a person undergoes.

We are not born…

Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★½ 10

Action! - The Unlikely Rumble: Hill v Hyams

So we end the first half of our combat with Hill returning to the vengeance genre, bringing his Western sensibilities to a picture where guns and retribution are the order of the day.

Michelle Rodriguez is great in this role, while her first appearance as a "man" was laughably poor. The beard and everything looked terribly fake, and it was even funnier that she was acknowledged twice in the closing credits. Now, having said that, when the wicked revengeful doctor, nicely played by Weaver, completed the "sex change" on Michelle's character Frank, Rodriguez did an great job modulating her voice and making it more rougher, and even as she leaned over and…

Review by nathaxnne [hiatus <3] ★★★★½ 12

100% Ray Blanchard's fault Signourney Weaver has to be out here force-femming mob hit men into Michelle Rodriguez to obtain cast-iron proof that gender dysphoria is an innate condition irreducible to paraphilia in the year of our lord 2016, an obvious fact known to science in the 19th Century and then violently memory-holed as needed by whatever variety of fascist forgetting this was expedient for ever since. If nothing else, The Assignment might be useful to watch with clueless boomer (grand)parents in order to get them to think constructively about the experience of gender dysphoria??? U could tell them before sitting down to watch that there was a reason u checked Girlfight out of Blockbuster so many times and that…

Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★½

So cheap, so in love with its own lurid pulp. It is as unplausible as its underworld, which is part of what so pleasurable about it. That cheapstake vile movie atmosphere is the movie, pure surface ugliness that never suggests the real thing, but just drown in its own texture. The kind of preposterous film with a mad doctor quoting Shakespeare and Poe for added gravitas that everyone treats for the bullshit it actually is. Rodriguez's Frank Kitchen is so good at what he does, The Assignment is never an actual an action movie, what it does purpose is a double narrative crashing on itself (Hill's usual hunter/hunted motif taking to an unique lurid extreme), the idea of identity becoming…

Review by matt lynch ★★★

Hill comes right out and says that this should stand on style alone...it doesn't (and yikes some of those animated transitions are dire), but his (somewhat clueless, but still) insistence on keeping this a pulpy shock noir is kinda admirable.

Review by Dawson Joyce ★

With a premise this risky, unique, and thought-provoking and a more than capable cast and crew onboard, it is such a shame to see The Assignment come out not an enjoyably trashy piece of exploitation fun but instead a brutally boring, utterly lifeless mess of a film lacking in both strong characterization and entertaining action, and the fact that this was a passion project of director Walter Hill since the 70's makes the joyless and mundane end result even more baffling. Also, this film officially disproves the idiotic to begin with theory that lead star Michelle Rodriguez looks too masculine.

Review by Jesse Snoddon ★ 2

"It's hard to go back to Frank Kitchen when you look like a chick"

After stupidly named hitman Frank Kitchen (Michelle Rodriguez) takes out Dr. Rachel Kay's (Sigourney Weaver) brother, Kay enacts revenge by having Frank abducted and performing a sex change operation on him against his will. 

As a fan of Walter Hill's movies, it pains me to say this is awful. Without even getting into the more controversial elements (to the film's credit Hill seems to be trying to make the point that we are who we are inside and physically changing someone won't alter that if it's against there will...but Hill is likely not the person to have this conversation and in over his head on that…

Review by comrade_yui 2

walter hill not being a provocative reactionary dumbass makes this way less exploitative than it actually should be. it's jam-packed with several elements of his previous works, and i can't help but see this as a return to form after his dreadful output since the end of the 90s. it's slick, peppered with punchy dialogue and efficiently constructed in the way that his best films are. at the time this came out, i probably would have despised it just from the premise alone, but at this point it feels really harmless compared to the relatively high toxicity that we get from zahler, snyder and bay. reading interviews with hill and seeing the actual text here, it's clear that this film…

Review by Biscoito18 ½ 3

I'd never realized how feminine Michelle Rodriguez was until seeing her trying to pass as a biological man.

It's impossible to buy the illusion, not only because she is a very famous actress, but also because the make up is terrible and her silhouette, voice and walk remains the same.

Looks more like a bad comedy sketch (they even gave her a hilarious CGI penis and hairy chest!!!) but the tone is so dead serious that nothing works properly. It's a VERY strange movie with a very strange editing too.

Trying to adjust the tone, they even add some cartoons here and there to give a grindhouse/hq vibe to it, but ends up being another lame aspect in the weak…

Review by Rach

Shame on you Sigourney 

Why the name change to Tomboy on UK Netflix? Like it don’t make it a good movie

Review by Cinema_Strikes ★★½ 2

This came out to a lot of kerfluffle - seemingly mostly from people who hadn’t seen the movie - about whether it was offensive in its treatment of trans rights, but hardly seems worth the bother of getting offended. It’s a fairly bog standard pulpy action revenge thriller, and the central issue of Michelle Rodriguez getting forcibly gender swapped doesn’t seem to have any legitimate bearing on trans issues - the character is not a trans person, but someone who had their body altered without their consent (more akin to the Remade in China Mieville’s Bas-Lag series), which seems an entirely different issue, at least to this admittedly ignorant viewer. I’m sure I’m missing plenty of nuance, but honestly this…

Review by Scout Tafoya ★★★½

www.rogerebert.com/mzs/the-unloved-part-47-the-assignment

Hill snapped into place on another level for me when I was watching this and remembered the scene in The Driver where he smashes up that gorgeous orange Mercedes. I watched it with my dad when I was in college and neither of us understood it. Years pass and I'm watching this and I'm thinking about other moments in Hill films where characters try to sort of shed their skin because of Hill's existential body dysmorphia and my brain feeds me the scene and says without hesitation "Well there's that scene in The Driver when O'Neal destroys the car because he can't tear his skin off and reveal the bottomless void in his soul." Like somehow, at some…

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The Assignment Reviews

Stylistically, it’s one of Hill's most accomplished works of recent years, but unfortunately a lot of that gets lost in the shuffle with the execution of its narrative.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Sep 29, 2023

While this is an assuredly mixed bag that’s not as funny as it seems to think it is, the instantly harsh first wave of reaction is way off.

Full Review | Jan 12, 2023

Even moving beyond its sticky politics, The Assignment is simply a lousy film.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Nov 16, 2021

Damned shame Walter Hill had to go out like this, "transphobic" or not.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Sep 30, 2021

...fraught and deeply problematic, graphically violent and irredeemably stupid. Rodriguez is fine, but the reason this film sticks with you is Weaver, who has never been meaner or funnier...

Full Review | Sep 10, 2021

A pulp thriller about a hitman's revenge. And at the same time, a showcase of well-known, quality actors.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 26, 2021

It's a stupid movie, incompetently constructed and completely oblivious to the poor taste in which it presents the issues of gender fluidity and expression. This film is trash. Don't watch it.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Sep 24, 2020

Grindhouse groupies will have something to celebrate with the latest offering from maverick auteur Walter Hill, the simultaneously shameless, trashy, and generously entertaining The Assignment.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 8, 2019

'The Assignment', with its tone changed, is a mere food product that goes from a research drama to pure and hard-acting film in its final stretch. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Aug 21, 2019

It's vintage meat-and-potatoes Hill, but any sense of low-brow, comic book fun continually crashes against a concrete wall made of one-note performances and a lunkhead, monologue-heavy script.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 29, 2019

The Assignment feels like a case where the audacity of the premise and the talent attached to the project kind of supercede the ultimate quality of the film, making it a must see for Hill or Weaver fans. Aside from that premise, the film struggles.

Full Review | Nov 6, 2018

So much of "The Assignment" is offensive. Rodriguez and Weaver both try to enhance the lousy material, but these fine actors deserve better than this lousy B-movie

Full Review | Nov 18, 2017

Terrific noir thriller. Rodriguez is daring, provocative and sensational as a hitman. A must-see, so rent or buy it.

Full Review | Aug 11, 2017

Instead of giving Millennials the heroic gender transition that they demand, Hill insists that we think deeper - perhaps about the media's popularizing of sex reassignment and the painful complications that such a choice entails.

Full Review | May 1, 2017

...a real curiosity and is probably destined for cult status.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 11, 2017

On the one hand, this thriller starts out with a ludicrous, wrong-headed idea, but on the other hand, as directed by Walter Hill, it's so skillful and pulpy that it could become a cult classic.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 9, 2017

Transphobia is the least of this mindless exercise's multitude of problems, beginning with the fact that the premise is so laughably implausible.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Apr 8, 2017

Under Hill's direction, Weaver doesn't seem to enjoy a moment of her sociopathy. But she's not the only one. Everyone gets a walloping here, if not a bullet to the head, in this grimy attempt at film noir.

Full Review | Apr 7, 2017

Hill, working with co-writer Denis Hamill, is going through the motions as far as the main revenge storyline is concerned.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 7, 2017

Rodriguez and Weaver are riveting. This lurid B-movie has cult following written all over it.

Full Review | Original Score: B plus | Apr 7, 2017