Following a typical 'Hollywood Renaissance'-style plot - that is, having nothing typical about it - Targets shows the progression of a calm, normal, working husband into a sadistic killer without remorse for the random human targets (title reveal). Frighteningly simple in its plot, Bobby, played by Tim O'Kelly, simply buys a large amount of guns, ammunition, and a few snacks before he sets on a rampage, killing or wounding countless people. All major characters were cleverly acted, including the film's director, Peter Bogdonavich self-satirically playing a young and naive up-and-coming director, and Boris Karloff sarcastically playing an actor by the name of Byron Orlok. The film is well shot, containing many of the high-angle, disjointed cinematography common to the late 1960s, and leaves few technical errors to be seen. The plot moves systematically, bouncing between the killer's plotline and the director/actor plotline, culminating in a joint conclusion which begins feverishly and settles into an anti-climactic final resolution. Clever in its closure, and simple in every way, the film leaves only the killer's motive up to the viewer. With an understandably Kafka-esque acceptation, Targets was a great watch, unique to cinema, and a seminal piece in the wave of New Hollywood.
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2/16/2010
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