The Big Hit

The Big Hit follows Melvin Smiley, a professional hit man who takes on a kidnapping job with four partners, hoping for an easy payday. The target is Keiko, the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, but the crew soon learns she is the goddaughter of Paris, the crime boss they answer to. When one of the partners betrays Paris, Melvin becomes the prime target. At the same time, his home life collapses: his mistress runs off with his money, and his fiancée Pam's disapproving parents arrive for a visit. Melvin has to survive the manhunt while keeping his true profession hidden from Pam.

The film was directed by Kirk Wong Chi-Keung, a Hong Kong filmmaker whose previous feature was Crime Story in 1993; this was his second film as director. Ben Ramsey wrote the screenplay, and Wesley Snipes served as a producer alongside Warren Zide and John M. Eckert. Mark Wahlberg plays Melvin, with Lou Diamond Phillips as Cisco, Christina Applegate as Pam Shulman, Avery Brooks as Paris, Bokeem Woodbine as Crunch and Antonio Sabàto Jr. as Vince, among 34 credited cast members.

Released on April 24, 1998, the film runs 91 minutes and mixes action, comedy, crime and thriller elements. Made for 13 million dollars, it earned 27 million dollars worldwide, roughly doubling its budget. On IMDb it holds a 6.1 rating from around 33,000 votes, and on TMDB a 6 from about 496 votes. A critics' rating of 5.2 from 41 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores.