A British remake of the 1993 French comedy-thriller, there’s some sluggish moments but generally speaking Jonathan Lynn’s not done a bad job of Anglicising the original. In a masterclass of subtle facial tics, eye movements and half formed sentences, Bill Nighy is Victor Maynard, an emotionally pinched dapper middle aged hitman following the family business and desperately anxious to please his demanding and somewhat judgemental mother (Eileen Atkins) with whom he lived until she moved to a retirement home.

An obsessive-compulsive perhaps, but Victor’s cool, efficient (as his proud mom’s collection of cutting reveal), never messes up a job and has never been seen by any of his clients.  

His latest is art collector mobster Ferguson (Rupert Everett) who wants him to kill Rose (Emily Blunt), the dizzy fraudster and thief  who sold him a fake painting. However, watching her at work as she sweeps through the streets, casually stealing as she goes, he can’t help but admire her style and fails to fulfil the contract.  He then winds up rescuing her from Ferguson’s goons and, in the process, acquires an  apprentice in the shape Tony (Rupert Grint), a teenage car thief who gets tangled up in proceedings and seems to have a natural talent with a gun.

Telling them both  he’s an undercover private eye, Victor becomes Rose’s protector, naturally falling for her the more time they spend together.

Ferguson, however, isn’t about to give up and, when his own bumbling henchman (Gregor Fisher) fails to bump them off, recruits another professional assassin, Dixon (Martin Freeman) to do the job. Meanwhile, mother’s not happy about Victor soiling the family honour.

Unexpectedly, Blunt is the weakest of the trio, her character never properly fleshed out to let her get to a consistent grip and the romance between her and Nighy never really convinces. But, Nighy’s a joy while still playing a variation on Ron Weasley, Grint’s actually rather fun.

Clearly looking to recall the vintage days of Ealing farce but with some added sexiness, things get a little over contrived as it approaches the finale but there’s plenty of genuinely funny comic moments along the way.