THE MAGICIAN (2006)

Director: Scott Ryan

Writer: Scott Ryan

Scott Ryan as Ray
Ben Walker as Tony

Think of a low-budget version of Collateral, and you won't be too far off. An extremely impressive debut film from Ryan, who did everything on this film: wrote, directed, starred, edited. So he's got no one to blame but himself for creating such a great little film. Ray hires his neighbour and film-maker Tony to follow him around and document his work - as an assassin - for posterity. Despite the remarkably unlikely plot, Ryan has created a highly engaging film with style and substance. This film could only exist in a post-Tarantino cinema - where else are cold blooded killers so charming, casual and human? The grittiness is undercut by some sharp and dark humour. An altogether watchable experience.