Stressed to Kill

Checked this movie out because I'm a fan of Bill Oberst Jr. He is an awesome actor. But I do admit he has been in some low budget messes. This is not one of them! It's indy and I expect the budget was not that of a big Hollywood movie but it really doesn't show. Production quality was good, lighting & sound were decent and surprisingly the actors were all pretty good! Usually indies spend their budget on a couple big stars and the rest are..... well to be nice not as good quality. This was different though. I of course feel Bill was the stand out but the other actors who played his best friend and the cop who was after him carried their weight. Even the smaller roles were filled with actors of quality. That made all the difference in the world for me! As someone else stated it is more of a black comedy then a thriller. I think we can all relate to Bill on some level. He does what we wish we could do. There were a lot of "hell yeah" moments when he took someone down. I thoroughly enjoyed this flick from beginning to end and more then likely will watch it again. May have to buy the DVD for the collection.

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.

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.

Just watched it on Amazon, frame rate was a bit off at some points but that could just be my connection... apart from that there's nothing really wrong with it, in fact it was really entertaining, didn't mind the acting at all, didn't come across too cheesy, budget was low but I've seen way way lower... the lead actor I liked, his buddy I liked, everyone they hated I hated... the crazy cop was fun... yeah I had a good time... I'm no movie critic but it is what it is and if you try and pick at things like a lot of the reviews do then you probably don't want to enjoy it, where's the fun in that? Give it a watch, if you like it you like it, if you don't you don't, it's that simple....

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