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A Pretty Good Perl

Is there an actor who appears on-screen more than Ron Perlman? He currently has 243 acting credits listed on IMDb. He's usually a tough guy of some sort and it's hard not to think of him in that way. My personal favorite film of his is Bunraku even though not many, if any, agree with me.

He is the title character in "Asher" and he is once again someone you don't want to cross paths with if he has any reason to wish you harm, but he's not a bad man. He's just doing his job. His job just happens to be that of a professional hitman.

However, when not on the clock, he is a talented cook and a classy fellow. He most reminds me of a more refined Jean Reno in "Leon: The Professional". "Asher" is not in the same class, but it's still good enough to hold your attention and give you some thrills.

Asher is a former Mossad agent who now uses his talents to kill people that Abram (Ned Eisenberg) tells him to. Abram, to the rest of the community, appears to be just a local businessman, but he is a middle man in a murderous hierarchy. The assignments are given to Abram and he passes them along to various hit men.

Asher's preferred method of execution in apartment buildings is to stand in front of the apartment, open an umbrella, smoke a cigarette and blow the smoke up towards the fire sprinkler. The sprinkler sprays on his umbrella and the person in the apartment opens his door. Asher puts a bullet in the target.

Asher draws a special assignment directly from Abram's boss, Avi (Richard Dreyfuss) and heads towards an apartment where the intended victim resides. This results in a struggle between Asher and the target, with Asher prevailing. However, afterwards, Asher faints into another apartment door.

The tenant, Sophie (Famke Janssen), opens the door. Sophie is a younger attractive woman and she helps him into her apartment. As someone who has lived in many apartments, I can tell you that it is incredibly unlikely that a woman would act this way.

An unlikely friendship and romance ensues and to me, it's by far the weakest part of the story. If a bloody, dead tenant showed up in your hallway when a stranger fell unconscious into your door, it might make you a bit suspicious of the man in front of your door. The way they meet and their huge age difference pulled me back from everything I was watching. When that isn't front and center, the rest of it works pretty well.

As long as "Asher" sticks with the violence and the formula of a killer who is looking for a more peaceful life, it works just fine. The introduction of the relationship with a woman causes more issues to question why things are happening the way they are rather than propelling it all forward. Look past its shortcomings and enjoy Perlman doing what he does best.