Antonio Banderas is a cashmere-smooth Miami hitman in The Enforcer — film review

In 2019 Antonio Banderas told the FT that Hollywood had left him “tired” and “angry” and a heart attack had galvanised his resolve to make only work that mattered. But three years is a long time in showbusiness and, as January likes to remind us, resolutions are made to be broken. For Banderas, a return to Hollywood and feline swashbuckling now looms in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Before that comes The Enforcer, in which he plays a different kind of cat altogether. “Cuda” is a cashmere-smooth Miami hitman who earns his beans by filling careless mobsters full of lead and cools off after hours by shooting some more holes at an all-night golf course. His name derives from his car: a vintage Plymouth Barracuda which, like its owner, emits a confident purr even while teetering close to breakdown.

Cuda may struggle to reconnect with his estranged daughter but finds two young charges to steward instead: Stray (Mojean Aria), a fearless street fighter introduced in scenes that may give Jean-Claude Van Damme fans flashbacks to Bloodsport; and Billie (Zolee Griggs), a homeless 15-year-old who awakens in Cuda pangs of paternal regret and a violent urge for vengeance when she falls prey to sex traffickers.

It’s a plotline with a string of previous owners. We know the hard-boiled assassin with a soft spot for abused girls from Taxi Driver, Leon and You Were Never Really Here. All of those are far better films — and the upstart seems to know it. Accordingly, The Enforcer stays firmly in its well-furrowed, cliché-filled lane before making itself scarce after a scant 83 minutes. Like Cuda, Banderas ultimately rises above his tawdry surroundings but he owes himself a better vehicle.

★★☆☆☆

In UK cinemas from January 6