By 1998 Michael Winner had had it with the movie business. His career as a restaurant critic was taking off and his colorful TV commercial career was just around the corner. The industry had changed and Winner's type of medium budget films were no longer being financed. So, for his swan song, he decided to make a movie for himself using a story that he wrote and peopled with several friends from the British film industry. The result was the appropriately titled PARTING SHOTS. In the director's written commentary which is one of the DVD's special features, Winner explains how he wanted to make a film that harked back to the Ealing comedies of Alec Guinness especially KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS. Combine the spirit of that film with the scenario of Winner's best known film DEATH WISH and this is the result.
Singer-songwriter Chris Rea (no relation to Stephen) plays Harry Sterndale, a less than successful photographer who discovers that he has only 6 weeks to live. When told by his lawyer (Peter Davison) to put his affairs in order, he acquires an illegal gun (remember this is England) and decides to bump off everyone who took advantage of him or made him feel miserable. These include his bitchy ex-wife (Diana Rigg), a crooked financier (Bob Hoskins), and a business associate (John Cleese) who stole his ideas. Along the way he meets the love of his life (Felicity Kendal) and in order to provide for her, he hires a hitman (Oliver Reed) to bump him off for the insurance money but then things do not go according to Harry's plans.
The film opened to less than stellar reviews (as did so many of Michael Winner's later offerings) and quickly disappeared. This Canadian DVD allows us to see the film again and to appreciate it for what it is instead of what it isn't. While lead actor Chris Rea is not to everyone's taste (I think he's fine), there are a host of delightful performances from the rest of the cast including Ben Kingsley as an egotistical chef and Joanna Lumley as a New Age bartender. The DVD comes with cast bios, background trivia, and the aforementioned written commentary from director Winner. Try it, I think you'll like it. Just don't expect Monty Python or Simon Pegg style English humor and for heaven's sake, don't expect the British version of DEATH WISH.
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