Kill Me Again - Uccidimi due volte

Film noir is one of the oldest and most worked of all the Hollywood genres. Starting as early as 1941 with John Huston's The Maltese Falcon. Other greats include Orson Welles's Touch of Evil and Hitchcock's Notorious. With such a great variety of so-called "classic" noires to see, why would one want to take the time and money to watch an independent film noir by a then unknown director/writer. Simple: the director/writer is John Dahl, and this is no ordinary film noir. In fact, his movies (this was the first of them all) are so well received that critics credit him with starting a new genre called neo-noir.

It starts out like any other noir. Fay Forrester (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer), the femme fatal, and her boyfriend (Michael Madsen) are some small time criminals who rob the mod. They steal a briefcase full of money and kill one of the mod members. Then, Fay, who longs to escape country life and move to Las Vegas hits her husband on the head with a rock, takes all the money for herself, and runs to Vegas. Once she gets to Vegas, she hires Jack Andrews (Val Kilmer) to make it look like she was murdered, offering him, "$5000 up front and $5000 when I'm dead." Jack, reluctantly takes the job. However, once the job is done, Fay skips out of town without paying Jack the final $5000, and to make matters worse, Fay's boyfriend is in town at Jack's office looking for Fay. Now this is where it gets really interesting because everyone is looking to kill everyone else for revenge. It is just a question of who will succeed. The last half of the movie is filled with plot twists and unexpected actions. This, and especially the end, is where this film deviates from what is usually called film noir. This is not to say that the twists are unmotivated or out of character. They very much are. It is just the types of twists and the number of them are uncommon for films preceding this time. The ending is unexpected and pleasurable. But I won't ruin it for you here.

One thing that is particularly true for this movie is the consistency found in each of the main characters. There is no scene that feels out of place within the context of the picture. Also, I have to give a thumbs up to the under-appreciated performance by Michael Madsen. He does one heck of a job as the psycho boyfriend. Another thing that must be mentioned is the great choices for the camera angles by John Dahl. This makes the movie better than it is or should be. He places the camera in places so that you feel either closer or farther from the action, depending upon what sense he is trying to convey to the viewer. He really makes the tension tenser, and the action faster. The audience always gets enough, but never too much. This is just an outstanding example of film directing. The only other directors that have this uncanny ability are Welles, Hitchcock, Kubrick, Tarantino, and Scorsese. In my opinion, this film (which is from 1989) is a major influence on Tarantino and his works. You can clearly see the similarities between their choice of camera angles and what the audience gets to see; however, Tarantino is more graphic face.

While this movie is far from perfect, it is quite good and deserves any true noir fan's time and attention. If you like noires, and in particular, this film, then go check out Dahl's other two good neo-noires: Redrock West and The Last Seduction. I give this film an 8/10.

Unlike the title, once turned out to be just right. I should have stopped at one viewing, which I really liked. For some reason, a second look five years later wasn't nearly the fun. All of sudden, the characters just were too hard-edged with a sadistic killer and lead female that were not fun to watch. Maybe I'm just mellowing and these type of low-lifes just don't appeal to me anymore, at least when comprise two- thirds of the main characters.

So, if you like nasty characters with a big mean streak in them, ones that have no ethics whatsoever and are proud of it, then'll you like this modern-day film noir very much. Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer and Michael Madsen are not three people you want as friends, particularly the last two.

The story has a few twists - big twists - near the end, although I suppose if you thought about it long enough you'd discover some credibility problems with it. Nonetheless, you have to give this film decent points for one thing: it entertains you for the full 95 minutes.

Somehow the dark, horrifically-empty aspect of modern American life - which is itself especially starkly on view in NV - is precisely nailed by this film. The film might aptly be subtitled - "The Illusion of Love in a Dead Culture like ours". Yes, outwardly, it's about the astonishing betrayals and cruelty everybody - good or bad - will go through to get their hands on the attache case with the mob's money. But inwardly it's about the search for a love that has sunk irretrievably below the surface of one of Nevada's beautiful lakes. But it is on the "inner" level that this movie really struck at me. It is set in Nevada: Winnemucca, Reno, Vegas, Overton etc. Well-developed, uniquely-identified, memorable characters; excellent acting by all; crisp, often amusing, dialogue; well-plotted and paced with surprising twists and turns, and a surprising climax. The haunting background music (William Olvis) alone is worth the seeing the movie for.

Val Kilmer and Joanne Walley Kilmer make a great team in this absorbing movie of cross, double cross, triple cross. The editing was a little choppy but not enough to really detract from this absorbing story. Good looking Joanne Whalley cons low-rent private eye, Kilmer, into helping her fake her death to escape her ostensibly murderous ex-boyfriend, played by Michael Madsen. Once the plan is in motion Whalley constantly shifts allegiance depending upon who seems to have the upper hand. This movie actually does not pretend to be profound or politically deep. For me that's a plus as I get enough politics every day and just want some good escapist fare.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

As the fan of modern noirs which are often called Neo-Noirs I must say John Dahl knows how to make one. He is master of this genre. Good thing about him is that he focuses more on making movie entertaining rather than other aspects. Title in review is one of the example but IMDb users again have not done justice with another Neo-noir and rated it very low as usual.

Movie is a wholesome entertainment. Look and feel of the movie is fantastically dark. Putting the highway in the movie even made it best. Characters are well constructed and they all mean business and also are desperate. Some great twists and turns but if you see lot of suspense thrillers then probably you will guess them beforehand. But still that doesn't mean you will not enjoy the movie. This is sort of movie which will glue to your seat for whole time. Pace of movie is good and you will Not find a single boring moment in it.

I strongly recommend this movie to neo-noir lovers and also highway thriller lovers will equally enjoy it. So watch it.

Even to this day, it's regrettable that the film noir tradition had to die out at the end of the fifties; but all is not quite lost, as since the release of Chinatown in 1974, there has been a steady stream of 'neo-noir' thrillers being released, and while generally not as good as their ancestral counterparts; they usually make for decent films. Kill Me Again is one such thriller; that, while suffering from a number of problems, does a good job in reminding us film fans of the classics from the forties and fifties by creating a good noir atmosphere, which is fused with a typical noir plot line. The film that it takes the most influence from definitely seems to be Billy Wilder's classic "Double Indemnity", as it follows themes of a man being dragged into a plot by a woman and death for profit. The plot follows a woman who escapes her jealous boyfriend after the pair steals over eight hundred grand from some mobsters. He isn't too pleased about her taking his cash, however, and despite her efforts of hiding by hiring a private detective to fake her death; jealous boyfriend remains on her tail.

The film starts off well - the plot is set up nicely, and hints at a thrilling ride to come. The middle, too, is well done and remains thrilling while taking in the familiar noir elements. It's the ending that really, really lets the film down, however. The ending is probably the most important part for any film - as it is this that is going to stay in the audience's mind after the credits role; but the filmmakers here haven't realised that. The twist is one the most clear cut cases of having a twist in the film just for the sake of having one. It makes absolutely no sense given what has gone before, and this is matched by the abrupt ending that follows straight after. And then, just so it gets a little bit worse; we get 'treated' to a sappy final conclusion. To it's credit, the cast does well; with Val Kilmer taking the starring role. I'm not a massive fan of this guy, but he usually performs well, and he looks the part here. He is joined by his then-wife, Joanne Whalley and the always excellent Michael Madsen tops off the central trio. It's always great to see Madsen in films, and the role here is an obvious prelude to his career making performance in Reservoir Dogs. Overall, this isn't an essential film - but it's good up until the ending, and I enjoyed it so it gets a thumbs up on the whole.