Michael Keaton adds a few nice strokes to a hopelessly corny character—the anguished hit man at Christmas—in this moody Chicago story (2008), which also marks Keaton’s directing debut. Repulsed by himself but afraid to commit suicide, the hired assassin mopes around the Lincoln Square neighborhood before meeting a sweet-tempered woman (captivating Kelly Macdonald) on the run from her abusive cop husband (Bobby Cannavale). Screenwriter Ron Lazzeretti tends toward stock characters, but two of them are nicely particularized by Darlene Hunt (as Macdonald’s chatty office pal) and Tom Bastounes (as a lonely, self-destructive police detective). In the end the movie recycles too much, adding some Catholic lore to the old metaphysical assassin story that’s been circulating since Le Samourai. R, 96 min.