Waste of time

Redundant and unnecessary.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Hey, I've got a good idea: let's make a hit-man movie just like all those other ones. We'll start with a scene of our world-weary, gravel-voiced, chain-smoking, smart-talking hero (who you will recognise from countless similar film and TV appearances) disposing of a sawn up body (actually a nice little scene), then we'll have him visit yet another chirpy cockney psychopath (except this actor can't do a cockney accent, but hey, he's stocky and bald and he's been in 3 other movies lately so he must be good.) Then we'll have our hero, (who's trying to turn his back on the mob!) meet a lovely, fresh-faced young girl in a very macho environment (irony). Of course, she's extremely intelligent, and doing a Phd, and is naturally attracted to a hit-man. Who isn't? Then let's introduce the next ham, (playing the central cop) by having him snorting coke from his desk in the office, at police HQ - wow! I hope these comments haven't depressed you too much. Unfortunately Solo depressed the hell out of me - and that was just the first 10 minutes.

Having read the screenplay on Project Greenlight, I was keen to see how it turned out. It was true to the script, which is what one would hope when the director is also the writer, but there were scenes which could have been deleted without diminishing the impact of the film. When I read the script, I got the feeling of a comic-book story and there's nothing wrong with this--gritty, tough, seamy underside of a big city. Somehow the film didn't quite carry this across and seemed to be trying to add more credibility to what could be just a good, slightly-clichéd action flick. One thing that I thought was that it was shot on video. Some of the scenes definitely lacked the sharp crispness of film and I was surprised to see the Kodak logo in the end credits. I was also surprised that they could shoot it on film and keep it in the AUD1M budget. Shooting on video could have actually added a grainy dimension which would suit this film noir genre. The choice of music was as good as it gets.

This is a pretty cool Aussie crime flick in the style of Two Hands, Chopper, Dirty DEeds, Getting Square, etc. More serious and less comedic than some of those films but with a style of it's own.The actors are all very good as is the directing and the camera-work. Morgan O Neill the director spoke after the screens and shared some interesting tit bits about the production of the film.... it cost only one million and a bit to make and was shot in only 21 days. COlin Friels is especially good as the main character who is a hit-man.All in all well worth watching especially if your a fan of movies like lock stock or Pulp fiction.

Morgan O' Neill's Solo is the first Australian film produced under the Project Greenlight banner, where a first time writer/ director was provided with $1 million dollars to get their film made. Working with a total budget that probably wouldn't cover the catering bill on a big summer blockbuster, O'Neill has crafted a gritty urban thriller, set deep within Sydney's criminal underworld. Colin Friels' Jack Barrett has built a life making people disappear for the criminal kingpins, but has finally reached a decision to go straight. Certainly, it's a cliché, but clichés become cliché's for a reason, because they work. When a young university honours student (Bojana Novakovic) starts digging a little too deep with her research on underworld crime, Barrett is ordered to "terminate her research career permanently". The film then tracks the relationship between the two, the hit-man and his mark. O'Neill has crafted a tight script where the twists are surprising, but always believable. Friels' opening monologue is a particularly wonderful piece of dialogue and serves to hook the viewer from the start. The performances are generally good, with Linal Haft and Angie Milliken particularly strong. Some artistic decisions let the film down somewhat. An appalling wardrobe choice sees Friel's Barrett in flashback, dressed in fright wig and terrible moustache. Rather than evoking the mid 70s as it's supposed to, you could be forgiven for mistaking him for an extra from a Comedy Inc sketch. Such costuming effectively removes much of the power such scenes should (and could) have contained. That said, Solo is an excellent low budget film, but importantly it is also an impressive film in its own right. O'Neill has gone a way to proving what logic keeps telling film lovers: It's not how much money is thrown at a film that makes it watchable, but the more intrinsic elements of script, plot and performance.