There's not even a hint of skill present—neither in front of or behind the camera—with the exception of what Anthony Hopkins manages to bring through his own considerable abilities. Despite the title suggesting otherwise, it doesn’t refer to Hopkins’s character, but rather to Anson Mount (The Virtuoso seems to end up being a nickname this character is too oblivious to recognize as ironic), a hired killer who balances the quiet nature of his job with an endless and tiresome narration that sounds like he's reading excerpts from a guide on how to commit murder; even someone completely unfamiliar with action movies of this type would find the constant explanation overwhelming. Perhaps it should have been called The Theoretician, because all of Mount’s extensive knowledge proves useless when put into practice—an area where he demonstrates considerable incompetence. Take, for example, a task that needs to appear accidental; his method involves causing an actual traffic collision and hoping for the best (or, from the victim's perspective, the worst). Given this haphazard approach, it’s not surprising that an unrelated third party becomes an extra casualty for Mount—though he seems strangely upset by this. Why would this concern him? Killing is killing, and there’s little to no moral difference between taking someone out for money and accidentally causing their death; I can only assume what bothers Mount is having killed someone without getting paid. In any event, Mount’s brief moment of conscience prompts The Mentor (Hopkins) to share a personal story about “following orders” and “obeying his superiors” during his time as a young soldier—a familiar speech, but Hopkins effortlessly improves it, making it easily the best part of the entire film. It really only takes a small amount of Hopkins’s considerable talent to lift this foolish script above the complete mediocrity that it naturally deserves. Consider the core of the plot: The Virtuoso receives instructions from the Mentor regarding his latest assignment, which provides no information beyond a date and time (and the words “White Rivers,” which could be a person or a place; the answer, however, turns out to be something much sillier). Mount arrives at the location confused about who the target is, leading to the deaths of two or three people who were simply in the wrong spot at the wrong moment. This contradicts everything he’s told us about “precision” and “perfection,” and it also makes him appear hypocritical since this time, the unintended consequences don't seem to bother him. Furthermore, Mount never even questions these unnecessary complications, nor does he consider that if someone truly wanted another person dead, they wouldn’t present it as a puzzle.

Source on TMDB