James Coburn, Burgess Meredith, Lee Remick, Sterling Hayden, and Patrick Magee are all good actors, and they all have instances of brilliance in HARD CONTRACT, but the film is not worthy of them. First time director S. Lee Pogostin has a few good ideas, but he makes too many beginner's mistakes for the material to succeed. Coburn plays a hitman working for Meredith, hired for a job he's not sure he can do. His target is Sterling Hayden, who had once been a contract killer himself, and they share a wonderful scene in which he tries to convince Coburn to quit. It's a good scene, well written and well acted, but it has the mark of an unexperienced film maker. There is another good scene in which Meredith moves in on one of the target's relatives and discusses modern violence in front of a Goya painting. A big part of the problem is the film's conclusion (SPOILER) in which they say that "murder is obsolete." This is supposed to be good enough for the audience and Coburn and Remick run off romanticaly into the bushes. What a disappointment! This movie didn't do half the things it could have done. Lee Remick is underused as the love interest, and Magee doesn't even have any lines. Should have been better.
Review of Hard Contract
