You Kill Me

"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.

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

This film has been advertised as a thriller. The pacing of this film is very slow and much too slow to be classified as a thriller. If you watch this expecting a movie full of action and suspense you will be disappointed.

Here's what's good about this film. All the talent that has been brought to this project has been first rate. The writing is excellent. All the actors down to the very minor ones nail their characters and deliver superb believable performances. The cinematography, sound and other technical elements are 'invisible,' which means that those aspects of the film have been done flawlessly.

The movie is very funny with many laughs. The comedy emerges from the situations as everyone in the film plays it straight as if it were a drama.

It takes a very skilled director to pull off this type of story successfully. Minor flaws can make it not work. This film works.

I think if you drop your fast paced thriller expectations for this film you will find it extremely enjoyable.

Far from perfect its absolutely charming with a super cast headed by Ben Kingsley as a hit-man with a drinking problem. Sent from Buffalo to San Fransisco to dry out when he blows a hit, Kingsley attempts to get his life in order.

Funny, touching and atypical, no one is really a cliché. As I said its not perfect, it meanders a bit too much and the mob stuff is a bit worn but its still a charming film. I think the whole things works thanks to the across the board excellent performances. First and foremost is Ben Kingsley who once again proves himself to be one of the finest comedic actors working today.

This is one of those movies you like with your heart more than with your head. This is one to see and share with as many people as you can force into seeing it.

You Kill Me is a cute entertainment. John Dahl, whose atmospheric noir thrillers Kill Me Again, Unforgettable and The Last Seduction fascinated me with their coziness and whose Rounders absorbs me to watch it repeatedly and never grow tired of it, directs a film that, despite not bearing the familiar climate his other films have, still has that tucked up warmth that they all have, even his lesser ones like Red Rock West.

This movie has a very dry sense of humor that works even when it isn't a punchline, which makes it consistent. For instance, Ben Kingsley, a Polish hit man who is sent to an AA in San Francisco, nonchalantly and laconically tells the group that he is a hired killer and that his goal is to overcome his drinking problem so he can return to being a competent murderer. The group, as dry and morbidly apathetic as he is, simply applaud him and welcome him with support, which very much taps into my own personal sense of black humor.

Dahl's early noirs always had a similar sense of humor that never detracted from their darkness or their moodiness or their seamless noir home video or late-night movie-going feel. However, You Kill Me is a straight comedy yet it has the same degree of black tongue-in-cheekness, thus it isn't a gem like the others. You Kill Me is a light amusement that one enjoys and passes. Dahl's direction is tight and laid back and the story is very preoccupying.

There's a sleepiness to this movie. The cast is very secure and likable, especially Kingsley and Dennis Farina, who returns to the gangster comedy like a highly anticipated guest at a reunion. Even before the gorgeous San Francisco locale, the Buffalo, NY bookends are very gladdening and infused well. We don't often get movies that showcase organized crime in smaller cities, much less the scant Polish mob. You Kill Me is not electric. It's a movie to watch curled up in bed at night or in the morning to get lost in. And it's done by one of the best craftsmen of that plain-and-simple family of cinema.