Film

Prizzi's Honor

Name: Prizzi's Honor
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Crime
Released: 1985
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Robert Loggia, John Randolph, William Hickey

A hitman falls for a female assassin who may be his rival in John Huston's delirious crime romance. Pitch-black comedy wrapped around genuine tenderness, where the Mafia is just backdrop for two professionals navigating love in a world where betrayal is currency. For anyone who wants their gangster story weird and their romance genuinely strange.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love dark comedies where the crime-family machinery is played for deadpan laughs and the romance is as sly and cynical as the killings, with performances that let the absurdity breathe.

Skip it if you want brisk plotting and a clean moral compass; the film ambles through its schemes at a leisurely pace, and its wry detachment can keep you at arm's length from the characters.

What it asks of you: It runs about two hours and ten minutes and rewards patience, asking you to stay with long, dry conversational scenes where the jokes land in the pauses rather than on cue.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Miller's Crossing1990

Coen Brothers' prohibition-era masterpiece about loyalty and desire within crime families, with the same tonal balance: brutal violence alongside darkly comic dialogue and an impossible romance at its heart.

But Dense, stylised script demands attention. The 1920s setting and Irish-American argot won't appeal to everyone, and it's deliberately artificial rather than gritty.

Blood Simple1985

Coen Brothers' debut noir where ordinary people in the crime world spiral through misunderstanding and violence. Sharp, claustrophobic, and wickedly funny about people who think they're smarter than they are.

But Slow-burn Texas noir without a sympathetic lead. If you need someone to root for, you'll be frustrated. Deliberately ugly cinematography.

In Good Company2004

Dennis Quaid and Scarlett Johansson navigate a workplace romance where age, power, and ethics collide. Lighter than Prizzi's but shares that sense of attraction overriding judgment and social order.

But Earnest and sentimental in ways that feel dated now. Resolves its tensions too neatly for the moral complexity it briefly raises.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Prizzi's Honor

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Eating Raoul1982

Both films ask what happens when you love someone in a world where bloodshed is routine, treating the question with equal parts tenderness and dark comedy.

A married couple kill swingers to finance their dream house in this pitch-black comedy about ordinary people and casual evil. Shares Prizzi's tone exactly: grotesque violence treated as a problem to solve, love amid depravity, and the mundane logistics of crime.

But Genuinely nasty and deliberately cheap-looking. The premise is tasteless and the humour is blunt; it's not trying to make murder charming.

To Live and Die in L.A.1985

Friedkin's synth-soaked 80s crime thriller about obsession and betrayal, where a cop pursuing counterfeiters becomes as morally compromised as his targets. Electric, amoral, utterly gripping.

But Bleak and relentless with no catharsis. The violence is nasty rather than stylish, and none of the characters are remotely likeable.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang2005

Shane Black's Los Angeles noir-comedy about a hitman and a struggling actress caught in Hollywood crime. Irreverent, fast-talking, and genuinely tender beneath the cynicism and body count.

But Aggressively meta and quippy; some will find it exhausting rather than clever. The plot is secondary to the banter, which won't work for everyone.

The Killing1956

Kubrick's racetrack heist film where small-time crooks plan the perfect score. Taut, witty, and preoccupied with how quickly desire and ego unravel even the smartest plans.

But Low-budget 1950s procedural with minimal action. Shot in stark black-and-white and more interested in psychology than spectacle.

After Hours1985

Scorsese's fever dream of a New York night where an office worker's chance encounter spirals into mounting surreality and violence. Darkly comic, genuinely unsettling, and perfectly strange.

But Deliberately alienating and repetitive as an ordeal. No warmth, no resolution, and the whole thing feels designed to frustrate rather than satisfy.

Sexy Beast2001

Ben Kingsley's terrifying crime boss descends on a hitman's quiet paradise in Spain. Gorgeously shot, wickedly funny, and obsessed with how violence and desire destabilise comfortable lives.

But Slow start; the first twenty minutes are peaceful and quiet before the intrusion. Kingsley's character is so abrasive that some will check out immediately.

Charley Varrick1973

Walter Matthau as a small-time crook outwitting the Mob after a bank heist gone wrong. Clever, funny, and lean—a forgotten gem about staying one step ahead in a game you're not equipped to play.

But Seventies pacing feels slow by modern standards. Matthau's squint-and-grin persona isn't for everyone, and the plot can feel thin on a first watch.

Grave of the Fireflies1988

Both are about people bound by love to those who will destroy them, told without sentimentality or false hope.

Isao Takahata's animation about two siblings surviving in wartime Japan. A complete tonal shift from Prizzi, but it matches the film's core insight: that love and loyalty persist in systems designed to destroy them, and that devotion can be both beautiful and fatal.

But Devastating and unbearably sad. Not remotely funny. Anime format may put off those expecting live action, and the ending offers no relief.