Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Charley Partanna is a hitman who works for the Prizzis, one of the richest crime families in the US. When he sees Irene Walker, it's love at first sight. But he soon finds that she, too, is a killer for hire. Charley can overlook his suspicions, but he can't turn off his heart. And the couple must remember that even if they love each other, the Prizzis love only money.
Prizzi's Honor is elevated primarily by its performances — Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, and Anjelica Huston (who won an Oscar) deliver sharp, layered work in a darkly comedic noir. The plot is a clever but somewhat meandering crime-romance that uses its hitman-meets-hitwoman premise to decent effect without fully exploiting it. Huston's direction gives it a distinctive deadpan tone, though the cinematography is competent rather than exceptional. The ending is genuinely surprising and ruthlessly logical — one of the more memorable cold conclusions in 1980s American cinema. As a black comedy, it occupies a fairly unique tonal space for its era, though it doesn't radically reinvent the crime genre.