The Kill Room

Uma Thurman produced this and stars as Patrice, owner of a gallery that is definitely NOT thriving. Then she is approached by a man (Samuel L. Jackson) who wants to strike up a deal with her, when the conversation is over she realizes he is a drug dealer that needs a place to launder his money. Being in a big bind, the idea of a good % take pulls her in, soon she is deep, deep in the criminal enterprise.

But she needs a steady supply of artwork, to make the operation appear legitimate. Reggie the hit man (Joe Manganiello) is recruited for that task, even though he has no art experience.

The whole movie is dark comedy, I enjoyed it enough because of the actors. A few scenes are over-filled with vulgar language, the script writer loves the F-word and some dialog has multiple M-F references, to the point that it was like verbal vomit coming out of my TV screen and speaker system. But fortunately my player has a 15-second jump forward feature so I didn't have to tolerate all that vulgar language, I just skipped over it and lost no content.

On BluRay from my public library. My wife chose to skip, she is not entertained by this type of movie.

Seeking a better way of laundering his mafia connected money, Samuel L Jackson discovers that the world of art where value is relative is the perfect tool to achieve this. He engages with spiky gallery owner / art dealer Uma Thurman who herself is facing hard times, to run this, with his hit man colleague Joe Manganiello persuaded to start paining great avant-garde works. The difficulty is that filthy rich New Yorkers start showing an interest in the paintings and long to buy them much to the annoyance of Jackson's mafia pals.

Whilst it is nice to see Tarantino favourites Thurman and Jackson come together to nicely play off each other, this is rather a flat, cold story, hampered both by the rather tired comic convention that any old rubbish will pass as art in snobbish art circles plus it all leads to a bit of a feeble, unconvincing climax. Manganiello seems barely awake throughout, although the rest of the supporting cast are good fun. It is however Thurman, who is terrific here and Jackson, admittedly doing his usual shouty, sweary, Tarantinoesque character, that make this worth checking out.

The casting was remarkable, luring viewers in with excessive temptation from the start. As the story unfolds, you'll discover that the narrative and plot are indeed worth investing your time in. However, as the movie progresses, it loses momentum and ultimately, the execution falls disappointingly short.

The film explores the concept of selling something you don't desire but end up purchasing because everyone else is doing so. In essence, it delves into the notion that if you have an abundance of wealth, you become a pawn in one way or another. Uma Thurman dominates the screen throughout, delivering a performance in line with her character. Regrettably, the movie's conclusion is so devoid of meaning that it extinguishes any remaining excitement.

Whether you choose to watch it or not, hardly any difference.

The movie is not great, the critics are right about that. But you cannot understate what the actors gave us with the little they had. Samuel l jackson is as always giving out a very believable performance as crook gone art fraud, uma thurman was less believable as she stuttered at every businesslike word that was supposed to paint her as a serious art gallery owner. It was kind of hard to watch how played eccentricity can backfire . The side cast was doing a stellar job as well. I felt completely immersed in this bizarre and backwards underground art world. It just never came together, there was no real plot, awkward dialogue and a dissappointing ending. So not as bad as people would want you to believe but not good either.

The Kill Room is a crime satire set for slaying in the modern art world. Catering to an audience that might not be hip to those in jokes, director Nicol Paone wisely fills her canvas with the witty Samuel L. Jackson, the sexy Uma Thurman, and the chiseled Joe Manganiello. Although hung on stories seen before, The Kill Room is an entertaining enough piece worth a 98-minute glance in any cinematic gallery.

Scripted by Jonathan Jacobson, The Kill Room is amusing crime fiction wrapped in a comedic body bag as Reggie's murders eventually transform into avant-garde art. Reggie becomes known as the Bagman whose art, naturally, becomes more of a success than the laundering biz. The Kill Room itself then dips into a slight case of thievery as the plot follows Woody Allen's Small Time Crooks, which also features a cover business that becomes more of a success than the actual crime. As life imitates art, so too does art imitate art.

The Kill Room, like the art being satirized within, has clever subtext but lacks that deep impression. The movie successfully captures the transitory nature of art styles noting such as an allegory of movies as they exist within modern streaming services. The Kill Room itself might not present a shocking spectacle like the Bagman but when paired with a proper wine and cheese, could nicely kill off a Friday night.