LONDON CALLING
(director/writer: Allan Ungar; screenwriters: Omer Levin Menekse, Quinn Wolfe; cinematographer: Alexander Chinnici; editors: Jeff Seibenick, Richard Starkey; music: Trevor Morris; cast: Josh Duhamel (Tommy Ward), Jeremy Ray Taylor (Julian), Rick Hoffman (Benson), Neil Sandilands (Alistair McRory), Brandon Auret (Seamus McRory), Aiden Gillen (Freddy Darby), Finnley Barnett (Oliver), Erica Wessele (Jodi, Tommy’s wife), Arnold Vosloo (Harry); Runtime: 114; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Mark Fasano, Kyle Ambrose, Delon Baker, Allan Ungar, Julia Sandberg Hansson, Nathan Klingher, Ryan Winterstern, Apur Parikh; Mannequin Films/Quiver Distribution; 2025-USA/South Africa)
“Entertaining hit man pic.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Allan Ungar (“Bandit”/”Gridlocked”) is the writer/director of this entertaining hit man pic that turns into a slapstick comedy/buddy/road film. It’s co-written by Omer Levin Menekse and Quinn Wolfe.
The mob assassin Tommy Ward (Josh Duhamel) is on a hit job at a swinging London club, where the patrons wear animal masks. The target is a man in a brown jacket wearing a horse mask. But Tommy kills by mistake a man wearing a black jacket in a donkey mask. The mistake is blamed on Tommy’s weak eyes, as he’s not able to clearly see the right target.
As a result, the washed-up Tommy goes on the run to Los Angeles. The vic was the wife’s cousin of the vengeful London crime boss Freddy Darby (Aiden Gillen), who is Tommy’s boss.
Tommy’s new handler is a Jewish crime boss, Benson (Rick Hoffman), who knows Darby. He assigns Ali to mentor his nerdy 18-year-old son Julian (Jeremy Ray Taylor) into the killing crime family business and says if he succeeds, he will try to patch things up with him and Darby so he can return to London to be with his estranged son (Finnley Barnett). Tommy still keeps an eye out for the vengeful Darby, who is in L.A. to kill him.
Tommy breaks Julian into the mob hit man business with a few missteps, as he drives him around in a vintage car to carry out the 3 hits he has contracts for.
The odd pair bond, as Julian is a quick learner while Tommy worries about staying alive. It reaches its climax when Darby and Tommy finally meet.
“London Calling” couldn’t fully reach me because of its limited story. But it’s the sort of pleasing generic lightweight film that usually does well on cable, where I expect it will make a name for itself.
REVIEWED ON 11/29/2025 GRADE: B-
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