Kill Me Three Times

'KILL ME THREE TIMES': Three Stars (Out of Five)

A black comedy crime-thriller, starring Simon Pegg; as a hit-man hired to kill a businessman's cheating wife. The film was directed by Kriv Stenders and written by first-time feature film writer James McFarland. It costars Alice Braga, Sullivan Stapleton, Teresa Palmer, Luke Hemsworth, Callan Mulvey and Bryan Brown. The movie is surprisingly dark and brutally violent; but it's not as funny, or as shocking, as it wants to be.

Pegg plays Charlie Wolfe; an assassin for hire, and private investigator, working in Western Australia. When a successful motel and bar owner, Jack Taylor (Mulvey), suspects his wife, Alice (Braga), of cheating on him; he hires Wolfe to find out. After Charlie brings back info, that's not to Jack's liking, Jack hires him to kill Alice. While Charlie is attempting to complete the assignment, he finds out that another couple (Stapleton and Palmer) wants her dead as well. Things get complicated, and the story is told from three different points of view.

Pegg is fantastic as the movie's main villain; and it's nice to see him playing against type for-a-change. The supporting cast is all adequate as well, and the directing is decent. The script is somewhat clever, and it also has a few nice twists, but it's nothing too memorable. The film is entertaining enough, while you're watching it, but it doesn't offer much more than that.

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This movie is a real mixed bag as it combines some excellent ideas with poor execution. I am in two minds whether it is underrated or over rated. I suspect if you do like it on first watching, further watches will increase your appreciation for it.

The premise of the story surrounds a husband's hiring of a hitman (played by Simon Pegg) to kill his wife and how that plays out. The story is told three times giving us a slightly different perspective and providing additional layers of story uncovering different plot line and motivations of the different characters with a number of twists.

The story told is actually interesting and does gets better and more intriguing as the film progresses, however it suffers from a particular slow and tedious first act (which i would suggest trying to get through). The opening scene is somewhat ridiculous and has a comical chase between the hitman and his victim, but this daft humour for the most part doesn't continue through the first act, so as a watcher you are not entirely sure what type of movie you are watching.

Watching this movie i couldn't help thinking that a better director and producer could have put created an excellent movie. The ideas are great, the script is reasonable, but the dialogue in many instances is fairly terrible. The casting is very mixed, whilst Pegg is a star he stands out amongst a very average and limited ability cast, some of the acting is incredibly wooden I'm looking at any scene with Hemsworth, particularly in the garage. That being said Pegg's character does not seem to be consistent from one act to another. The visuals are at odds with themselves. Some good bright cinematography, nice blood work but poor fire effects mixed with a daytime soap vibe in many of the 'talking scenes' inside.

And that's where we are, my overriding feeling i get from his movie is that Home and Away tried to make a Pulp Fiction - esque feature. Maybe i'm being unkind here comparing it to a daytime soap, but it very much has that feel in many scenes (not just because it is set in Australia). Likewise it feels like a TV movie rather than a feature, which i guess it very much may be, without knowing the full background.

Ultimately I would say this is a reasonable watch, worth persisting with, has some clever and interesting ideas, but lacking in many areas.

I do not know why this film has such low reviews. It is not a big budget film but it is well made and funny throughout (if you like dark humour). The casting is excellent and Simon Pegg puts in a deliberately understated performance as the only professional killer among a whole bunch of nasty individuals. I have watched this again and again, because I notice a new nuance every time I view. Watch and enjoy. There are decidedly humorous but cringe-worthy moments throughout the film and the "I'll be there in an hour" catchphrase of his hired-killer has added significance towards the end (not really a spoiler - watch what I mean!) Lovely performances from many great actors/actresses - Simon Pegg is excellent - Bryan Brown is just so unlikable. The plot twists are fantastic. Watch and enjoy!

This is a alright rental, it's not a really good rental but it's decent enough. It's not as terrible as some critics claim it to be. Sure it's not all that original for that twist and turn and every connects near the end type of movie. But it's decent enough for it to make it worth a watch. Despite me hating all of the characters in this movie. So the plot is about a hit-man named Charlie Wolfe played by Simon Pegg getting entangled or intentionally gets into a mess. Simon Pegg's role in this is basically tailing other characters, spying on them then snarling and chuckling in a creepy awkward manner every time he sees something bizarre. The director of this movie seems to have been really inspired by Pulp Fiction, but the whole thing just doesn't mesh together all that well. And the characters and dialogues is more annoying than interesting. But it was a watchable flick and despite it not having a immensely immersive story it was a okay effort. Lastly I thought it was cool how Sullivan Stapleton could play such a badass in "300: Rise of an Empire" and such a weak cowardly loser in this. Simon Pegg playing the lead role as a hit-man and Sullivan Stapleton playing the somewhat villain I thought this would be a good movie, but it's decent at best.

6/10

Like many other titles on IMDb i'm surprised by the low ratings and mixed reviews that this title received. I believe that watching a movie doesn't require me to be a professional critic or reviewer so i don't need to start nitpicking every little detail or the composition in it's entirety. That usually happens after a second or third viewing or at a much later time.

With that being said, i find that this movie, like many others, deserves a chance to win you over. It might not be perfect, but what movie out there is? (Especially when you're looking for goofs and mistakes in every scene)

It's got a good mix of humor and action all narrated in an interestingly cut up way where not all facets of a sequence are revealed at once. The acting, soundtrack and location choices were also rather good and they fit well in this small world they created in the movie.

I for one had a good time watching it and if you do decided to give it a try i hope that you also do.