Why “Killer” Only Accepts $1 Payments For His Assassin Hits In Faster

One of the main characters from 2010’s Faster, dubbed as “Killer,” only charges $1 for his assassinations, making it hard not to wonder why he settles for such a low fee. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Faster follows Jimmy Cullen, who walks down a vengeful path after being released from prison. Deadset on finding justice, he makes a list of all the people who were responsible for his brother’s death. He then sets out to kill all the people on his list, but his mission takes a complex turn when two detectives and a hitman try to stop him.

The hitman, played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen, is called “Killer.” After establishing how incredibly skilled he is at his job, Faster reveals he only charges $1 per kill. Since one would expect a high-caliber hitman to charge a massive sum for assassinations, it seems surprising that the character from Faster settles for such a low number. It raises questions surrounding why he kills people in the first place and refuses to accept a fair payment for his work.

Killer Only Takes $1 Payments Because He Isn’t Killing For The Money

The Pursuit Of Eliminating Targets Genuinely Excites Him

Given his reputation in the movie’s overarching narrative, Oliver Jackson-Cohen’s Killer could have charged his clients a high sum for committing murders for them. However, he settles only for a dollar because he cares little about earning through his kills. The act of committing assassinations is thrilling enough for him to not seek any other material rewards out of it. He enjoys his profession even more when he comes face to face with formidable enemies like Dwayne Johnson’s Cullen, who gives him a run for his money. Owing to this, Killer even declines Humphries’s offer when he gives him money in Faster‘s ending arc.

Taking $1 Rather Than Nothing Gives Killer Leverage Over His Clients

Killer Cleverly Uses The Amount To Gain Control Over His Deals

Even though Killer is not interested in getting paid for his crimes, he cleverly keeps his clients in check by charging them a dollar. After his clients make the $1 transaction, they officially get themselves involved in criminal activity. With the transaction, they, too, become complicit in his crimes, preventing them from betraying or setting him up. Killer realizes that, in the criminal world, he cannot merely trust his clients based on their words and promises. Therefore, he asks them to send him $1 to ensure their deal is officially backed with a formal transaction that proves their involvement.

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If the clients later back off and claim they did not conspire to kill anyone, Killer could hold them accountable by showing the $1 proof. The dollar serves as leverage for Killer in Faster, ensuring that no one takes him for granted just because he is doing their job for peanuts. Since ordering a hit may also be more punishable than carrying it out, Killer’s $1 fee in the fast-paced Dwayne Johnson action movie ensures that he always stays ahead of his clients and stays in the business of killing as long as he wishes to.

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Faster

After being released from prison, James ‘Jimmy’ Cullen seeks out vengeance as a corrupt cop pursues him, along with a hitman hired to kill Jimmy. Dwayne Johnson stars as Jimmy Cullen alongside Billy Bob Thorton as Detective Slade Humphries. Released in 2010, Faster got mixed to negative reviews but managed to make over $10 million at the box office.

Director

George Tillman Jr.

Release Date

November 24, 2010

Writers

George Tillman Jr.

Runtime

98minutes

Budget

$24 million

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