You Kill Me

Hollywood loves assassins. You can't go more than a few weeks without a new hit-man movie hitting (sorry) the multiplexes. Hell, later this year, there's a movie coming out literally called "Hitman".

The new trend seems to be putting comedic twists on the assassin film. I guess we can thank Tarantino for that. Within the past few years, stuff like "Mr.& Mrs. Smith", "The Whole Nine Yards", "The Matador", "Grosse Pointe Blank", and "Lucky Number Slevin" gave us clever little plays on the assassin genre. If you're at all familiar with those films, you'll feel right at home with "You Kill Me".

Ben Kingsley plays Frank Falenczyk, a hit-man for the Polish Mob out of Buffalo, New York. Frank's an alcoholic, and recently it's been affecting his work. As a result, his superiors send him to San Francisco to attend Alcoholics Anonymous until he can sober up.

The movie doesn't win any points for originality, but it does have a lot to offer. Kingsley puts on a capable, sympathetic show - pretty impressive for a guy who spends the majority of the film getting hammered. Téa Leoni does well enough as the obligatory love interest. The age difference took a little getting used to. Dennis Farina and Philip Baker Hall are a treat to watch playing essentially the same roles they've been playing forever. Hall is the soft spoken head of the Polish Mob Family, while Farina is the loudmouth villain heading up the Italians. Bill Pullman also has a small role as a sleazy real estate agent. Anyone who's seen "Lucky Numbers" knows that Pullman has a talent for quirky lowlifes, and he shines here.

This is a very light movie. It won't blow you away in any regards, but it is a solid 90 minutes of easy entertainment. The script is essentially Frank's struggle to fight his habit. We also get a light love story and a touch of crime thriller. It's a strange juggling act, but Kingsley and director John Dahl pull it off. Don't get discouraged by the bland name. With just enough laughs, drama, and action – this is a small movie than just about anybody can have fun with.

Quite uneven and rather heavy treatment of some topics meant to be amusing, but still, a pleasant change of pace from slasher or crasher movies. Kingsley is a drunken mobster somewhat unconvincingly told to attend AA by his godfather or boss or whatever.

In the end, this is the sort of pleasing yet non-filling confection of a movie which is suitable for couple to go to without compromise - or perhaps it's the perfect compromise.

It has enough guys running around with firearms to suit the men. It has Tea Leoni as a strange beautiful woman so there's some romance for the women. It has Ben Kingsley who looks 40 years older than Leoni involved in a romance with her which should satisfy something in most people, even if I'm unsure what.

Like most movies today, this one demands a huge suspension of disbelief not only about the gangster snow plow wars of Buffalo, but why Chinese want in on a piece of that action, how mobsters care for each other and if some homely old grunt can really get and hold a very hot Hollywood star girl.

Still, I'll take it over the current clash or crash offerings.

"You Kill Me" is as dark a comedy as you can get. It may also be the first artistically successful romantic comedy noir. Directed by John Dahl (best known for his indie-noirs "Red Rock West" and "The Last Seduction" and the underrated killer trucker flick "Joyride"), the film depicts a hit man (Ben Kingsley-deep in character) forced into Alcoholics Anonymous by his "family" because his drinking has been affecting his ability to kill people. Shipped off to San Franscisco to start his 12 Steps, he picks up a part-time gig at a funeral home and meets a sassy single woman with "boundary issues" (Tea Leoni-hilarious) after her step-dad dies and proceeds to start an unconventional romance with her while struggling to stay on the wagon and learn how to kill again.

The film starts off very low key, and Dahl keeps such a consistently dark tone it's hard to adjust to the cadence. As good as Kingsley is here, the show really belongs to Leoni. When she finally arrives on the scene, the film reaches a level of hilarity you weren't expecting. Her facial expressions, comic timing, and interplay with Kingsley as she learns the truth about his past are pure gold. Leoni has had her fair share of commercial successes ("Bad Boys," "Deep Impact," "The Family Man", and "Jurassic Park III") but it's in this type of offbeat low-budget comedy where she really shines. She was dynamite in "Flirting with Disaster" and was the best foil for Woody Allen since Diane Keaton in the otherwise forgettable "Hollywood Ending." Here all her comic charms are on display, and she proves that at the age of 40, she is aging not only gracefully and naturally, but with all her sexiness and innate talents in tact.

While the film goes through the predictable motions in its final act, it's the gooey goodness of the middle portion (especially one laugh-out-loud montage of Leoni helping Kingsley train for his return to "work") that will leave a smile on your face, with Leoni's luminosity as a comedic actress scorched into your mind.

From the screenwriters of the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe comes the R-rated black comedy You Kill Me. It's an odd pairing, but at least you can say these guys have range. To helm this film, about a hit-man whose drinking problem has caused sloppiness and perhaps the demise of his Polish gang in Buffalo, we have John Dahl. I am a huge fan of Rounders, so I was hoping for some of the same here, with a dramatic arc that worked and made sense intelligently, but also bringing the laughs that the trailer promised. Thankfully this film doesn't disappoint. Yes, there are some moments of disbelief, but the dry, straight-laced delivery of everything else makes up for the leaps in logic that would otherwise eat at me for the duration. While not laugh-out-loud funny, Dahl has put together a nice slow burning comedy that allows its characters to live and breathe realistically and evolve in a somewhat believable manner.

Our aforementioned hit-man is played brilliantly by Ben Kingsley. I remember when I used to look at him as just Ghandi, but after the diverse catalog of films he has done recently, I've realized that he isn't afraid to branch out into darker fare. His role here has a lot going for it in comedic terms—he is an alcoholic, a loner that kills for money, and a resident of the arctic pole of Buffalo. Put all that together and you can think of a few funny situations for him to get into. To the filmmakers' credit, though, we never really get any of that except for the opening "job." When Kingsley's Frank sleeps through the one big job he is relied on to do, everything falls apart. What happens next is his journey to sobriety and friendship/love to pull him through to an understanding about what he really is living for. What worked for a film like The Matador couldn't be as effective here. Frank isn't having a nervous breakdown or losing his cool, he is off the job seeking help so that he can go back on the payroll. We don't need him to drunkenly wave a loaded gun at people, the comedy instead comes from his fish-out-of-water situation, being a cold-hearted killer trying to warm up to recovering alcoholics and a community he is not used to being sober around.

Kingsley definitely plays the role to perfection, never faltering from his matter-of-fact tone or takes no crap attitude. Everything out of his mouth is carefully orchestrated and he is not one to waste his own or others' time. This fact makes some scenes hilarious because of the reactions from those he is speaking to. When he speaks from the heart and seriously, while sprinkling in his own experiences murdering people, during AA meetings, the utter silence and occasional Amen from the audience is gold. Besides his unfaltering demeanor and his sardonic sarcasm, it is when he plays off of love interest Téa Leoni when some of the best laughs occur. These two have a wonderful rapport and when they go at each other rapid fire, with one quip/comeback after another, you'd think it was all ad-libbed—the timing is that good. Leoni has been surprising me lately with her career. I don't know why I used to think she was annoying, but recently having seen films like House of D and her early work in Flirting With Disaster, I realize that she is good at both the dramatic and the comedic.

The who's who of supporting players also does a nice job anchoring the story. Luke Wilson seems to really just be playing himself, but the laidback friend is what is needed for the role. Philip Baker Hall and Dennis Farina show how it's done as two rival mob bosses in Buffalo, (yes, I said mob bosses in Buffalo, I'm constantly scared for my life when walking around downtown at night). Their storyline is handled well and counteracts the subtle humor going on at rehab in San Francisco with some tense moments trying to keep the Polish afloat at the hands of the ever increasing Irish crew. Mention is also needed for Bill Pullman who has been making some good choices of late in small supporting roles. His self-absorbed real estate agent is entertaining because his ego won't let him be intimidated by the killer he is conversing with.

The laughs may not come over and over again, but when they do it's smartly and appropriately. The fact that everyone in San Fran who hears Kingsley is a hit-man just accept it like someone saying they washed their clothes that morning is a bit rough to get by, but really it doesn't matter in terms of plot progression. The writers also try to distill the problem with Frank saying how it's Alcoholics "Anonymous," which brings a smile to your face for nothing more than the corniness of the line. I also don't know how perfect placing the movie in Buffalo was. It seems the writers needed a cold, drinking town up north and our wonderful home of Buffalo was the first to come to their heads. When was the last time you heard about the Irish and Polish mob going to war while the Greeks stood back to see who came out on top? Yeah, that's right, never. I did like the touch of hometown words by naming an Irish bar Scajaqueda. Just proves again these guys had no clue what they were doing with location. Overall, though, the film works despite any of its shortcomings.

When my mom and I were at Blockbuster the other day, I noticed You Kill Me, I kinda remember it being released in the theater and hearing a good review from a friend of mine. So I rented it and watched it the other night, I didn't know what to expect, I didn't even really know what it was about. Now, we have such a trend in Hollywood, the hit-man comedies, there are quite a few, why not? Something so serious and scary, you can't help but just have fun with it. But for the most part, it's starting to get old and some movies are just trying to upstage the classics like The Whole Nine Yards and such, so You Kill Me is just nothing new, so it doesn't stand out. While it's worth the watch, it has some fun moments here and there, it's just that I expected something new or fresh, and the funny drunk hit-man isn't working for me.

Frank is a hit man for his "family business", but when he sleeps right through the biggest hit, due to his drinking, he's messing up left and right, so his boss tells him get sober or get killed. So they send him to rehab away from home. There he gets a new job as a make up artist for corpses at a funeral home. He meets a new friend at rehab, Tom, who is Frank's sponsor as well. He also meets a new girl, Laurel, who becomes the unexpected love of his life, and helps him out with the biggest hit of his life.

You Kill Me isn't a bad movie by any means, it is worth the look, but just trust me, it's nothing special. But both Kingsley and Leoni pull in good and solid performances that make the film worth watching. I don't know if their kissing exactly "sizzled" the screen, but it's all good, their last scenes together during the big hit were great and really pulled off well. So if you have the opportunity to see it, go ahead and watch it, it's a decent enough film with some fun laughs and good actors.

6/10