Directed by Raymond St-Jean, "Dusk for a Hitman" depicts a raw portrayal of the life of Montreal's notorious fixer, Donald Lavoie. Set in 1979, the crime drama, working with a mixture of truth and fiction, delivers a somber atmosphere buoyed with cold, efficient violence and troubled loyalties.
Taking place over a year, the film narrates the proficient contract killings carried out by Lavoie, played by Éric Bruneau, and his complex relations in the criminal world. He works for his boss, Claude Dubois, as a trigger-man, debt-collector, and enforcer. The robust dynamics between Lavoie and Dubois are perhaps the strength of the film while its limited unveiling of the crime organization's internals feels lacking.
Similarly, Lavoie's family life is thinly sketched. The intrusion of his sacrifices for his family into his life as a hitman rings hollow, given the insignificant screentime accorded to his family. Much like other off-the-rack crime thrillers, the movie's compositional elements are conventional, yet they form a suitable backdrop for the unsentimental tale of the black-hearted killer.
However, it is Bruneau's captivating portrayal of Lavoie that aids in overcoming some of the narrative's shortcomings. Despite minimalistic scripting, he manages to provide a view into Lavoie's internal world. His riveting performance denotes the potential grandeur "Dusk for a Hitman" could have achieved with a bit more depth and character refinement. Nevertheless, the film emerges as a stable addition to the crime genre.
