Stressed to Kill

I thought this was going to be like Falling Down or something equally as cool.

It is not.

It's a bore. It drags. It's horribly acted with massive holes in the story and horrible dialogue, stupid settings and atrocious casted actors.

The setup was fairly good, but 5 minutes in, it fell flat and then remained there and started to sink shortly after.

Armand Assante mumbles his way through his lines horribly and stumbles around like a drunk on his 2nd bottle of Jack Daniels in 20 minutes.

The characters are horribly written and the developed story is anything but developed.

It could have been made a dark comedy with different comedic actors delivering the same lines and better performances, but as it wasn't made into a comedy - this just sucked.

Totally different cast could have turned this mess around.

If you doubt me now, you won't doubt me later.

Mark Savage is well-known world-wide as a genre director, a hat he is more than happy to wear. Yet, this does limit his image somewhat amongst mainstream cinema circles, both for funding and garnering audience. And that's a shame. 'Stressed to Kill' comes from a similar place as 'Falling Down'(Dir.: Joel Schumacher, 1993) but has been crafted to a very tight budget which occasionally shows on the screen. However, don't let that deter you from seeing it. Accept it for what it is - a film that sticks to its purpose with skill and care. There is discipline apparent in the acting and direction and that is applause-worthy. As a story, again, it is true to form and the acting of Bill Oberst is the star turn here as the unwell hero-anti-hero (depending on your POV). He makes this flawed, edgy chap very likable and credible with razor-sharp emotions and a build of tension that last through the narrative. Now I would like to see Mark Savage step out of the genre and for someone to give him a wad of $$$$ so that a wider audience can see his work which clearly is applicable to a very broad range of film languages and devices.

In Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train"(1951), two strangers each agree to kill someone the other person wants disposed of. In "Stressed to Kill" (2016) history repeats itself, only this time the protagonists are two very good friends. One of them he does more than that, he first train himself by killing several very annoying people that appear in his pathetic existence, managing to escape the stress permanently produced by his own wife, who has an affair with a big belly idiot. Bill Oberst Jr. is very effective in the role of Bill Johnson. I found myself in the character, I do not like neither to be bothered by morons in cinemas. The difference is that I do not kill people. I beat a few, that's right, on several occasions, in different theaters at different films. Armand Assante is OK in the role of unorthodox policeman and a little mental disturbed himself. The movie is good but I would have liked it more faster, more dynamic, it has some moments when the pace is too slow.

Idea for the plot was good, but the acting was ... not. Almost coukd have worked as a spoof, but acting wasn't quite good enough for that. But couldn't stop watching. Does pick up at the end.

02/03/2019 Don't waste your time. Even with Armand Assante in the movie it can't help the damage done by NOT funny PRETEND actor Bill Oberst Jr - He SUCKS. IMDb gives this garbage 5.7 stars??? more like less than 4 stars. Bon Appetit