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 From
the film's press book:
A hit man with a conscience
A mobster with a brutal plan
And a priest with a deadly secret
The lives of these three
very different men intersect in one brief, yet terrifying moment
of honour and revenge, in this adaptation of the novel by Jack
Higgins.
 Martin Fallon (Mickey Rourke)
is running from his past. A former IRA revolutionary, he has
had enough of the endless cycle of violence and killing. Accused
of informing, Fallon is wanted by the IRA to come back and face
a Court of Inquiry.
- h u n t e d -
 Hunted by the police for the killings,
and by the IRA partisans whom he is accused of betraying, Martin
Fallon has nowhere to turn. His only hope of escape is through
an East End crime boss named Jack Meehan (Alan Bates), whose
funeral parlour business is a front for his other, more shady
dealings. It is Meehan who holds the key to Fallon's freedom
-- a passport, and a new identity -- but with that freedom comes
a price. Fallon must commit one last murder for Meehan.
Fallon reluctantly agrees to the
hit. However, the killing is witnessed by a local priest named
DaCosta (Bob Hoskins), a former SAS commander. When Meehan learns
that there is a witness he insists that Father DaCosta be killed,
but Fallon has another plan.
In the confessional booth of the
Church of the Holy Name, Fallon confesses his sin or murder to
the unsuspecting DaCosta. Too late, the priest learns the murderer's
identity but cannot reveal it, as the secrets of the confessional
are inviolate and Fallon's revelation sacred. DaCosta, who reported
the crime to the police, can now help them no further, or else
risks breaking his holy vows.
- t r a i l e d -
Fallon
is meanwhile being trailed by Liam Docherty (Liam Neeson) and
Siobhan Donovan (Alison Doody), IRA members assigned to bring
Fallon home, or kill him. As Meehan stalls in giving Fallon his
new passport, one of his men leads the couple to the fugitive.
They trap Fallon, but Docherty cannot bring himself to kill his
old friend.
Fallon returns to the church and
meets Anna, DaCosta's blind niece, who is intrigued by Fallon's
voice and his knowledge of church music. He finds himself increasingly
attracted to the girl, and arrives to help her when Meehan's
perverted brother Billy (Christopher Fulford) attempts to rape
her.
- b o u n d -
 To tie up the loose ends of Fallon's
last hit, Meehan frightens a prostitute named Jenny into luring
Fallon onto a deserted ship, where three of his thugs lie in
wait. Meehan constructs a time-bomb with IRA-supplied parts,
and his men bring DaCosta and Anna to the roof of the church,
where they are bound and gagged.
Escaping from the ambush on the
ship, Fallon rushes to the roof of the church, where he is able
to manoeuvre Meehan's gun away from him, and free Anna and Father
DaCosta. They reluctantly flee to the safety of the ground below,
leaving Fallon and Meehan face to face as the bomb ticks away.
The two men square off, and as Meehan lunges towards Fallon the
railing gives way. Fallon falls from the roof and the bomb explodes,
killing Meehan.
Father DaCosta rushes to the dying
Fallon and, with tears in his eyes, administers the prayer for
the dying to the man whose terrible secret almost cost him his
life. |||
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