"You Kill Me" (2007) is a quirky romantic comedy with a professional killer as its protagonist. The hit-man, Frank Falenczyk, played by our current Man of All Ethnicities (heir to Anthony Quinn), Ben Kingsley is over the hill, or, more exactly, asleep in the gutter. His alcohol consumption has made him unreliable, which his gang, headed by Roman Krzeminski (Philip Baker Hall) cannot tolerate, and sloppy, which bothers Frank himself. Frank took pride in his craftsmanship, and does not acknowledge his alcohol problem.

The alcoholism is shown first, as he throws a bottle of vodka into the snow a yard or so into the snow in front of him as he shovels his sidewalk in Buffalo, New York (convincingly played by Winnipeg, Manitoba). When he reaches it, he takes a swig and tosses it another yard ahead of him, and repeats the process. This also introduces the main business of Krzeminski's gang -- the contract to remove snow from Buffalo's streets.

Moving to take over this is an Irish gang headed by your typical smirking psychopath, Edward O'Leary (Dennis Farina), who is backed by Chinese investors. Things do not go well for the Krzeminski gang without Frank, who is exiled to dry out in San Francisco. (San Francisco is an odd, but photogenic choice.)

In San Francisco, a realtor named Dave (Bill Pullman) provides an apartment for Frank a step or so above the Tenderloin, sends him across town to the Outer Richmond (38th and Geary) for an AA group... and makes sure Frank stays through the meeting(s?). Acknowledging that one has a problem is the first step, and usually prerequisite to getting someone to an AA meeting. Frank listens with contempt to the narratives he hears in AA and recoils when the one person who is friendly to him, Tom (Luke Wilson), a Golden Gate Bridge toll-taker, tells Frank that he is gay. Frank politely replies, "I'm not," and soon accepts Tom as his AA sponsor.

Dave has also arranged employment for Frank with a no-nonsense black mortician, Doris (Alison Sealy-Smith), and Frank is good at dealing with dead people, not just at making them dead. He has a flirtation with the step-daughter of one of the deceased, Laurel Pearson (Tea Leoni, [Bad Boys, Suspect Zero]). She takes his occupations (past and present) in stride and that he has just started sobriety -- just as long as he isn't gay. She does not tell her backstory. And she takes an interest in the skills of Frank's first craft. It strikes me as "taking an interest" in Frank rather than any penchant for violence. Eventually, it is put to good use.

The various plot lines are satisfyingly resolved by screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (seemingly far from "The Chronicles of Narnia"), who supply some dry humorous dialogue. They didn't give Leoni that much to work with, but she does an impressive job with her underwritten character. Philip Baker Hall and Dennis Farina have formulaic gangster-movie characters, which they perform well. The surprises are Ben Kingsley and Luke Wilson underacting. Both have been very, very flamboyant, in among other places Kingsley's gangster/killer in the misnamed Sexy Beast. "Less is more" works here for both of them.

"You Kill Me" follows relatively close on the heels of the hitman comedy "The Matador," and the comedy of the funeral business was central to "Six Feet Under." Moreover, it was not that long ago that "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" provided a romantic comedy about professional killers. Some of us remember "Prizzi's Honor," as well, and Ben Kingsley seems to have remembered Jean Reno in "Leon, s.com/content_137457536644," which I think was also a romantic comedy with a hit man. So I don't think that "You Kill Me" is as original or ground-breaking as some (with little familiarity with the ground trod) have claimed. It has less violence than the other comedies involving professional assassins I have mentioned. Even Kingsley as a romantic lead is not unprecedented (The Turtle Diary, and, arguably "Betrayal"). "You Kill Me" held my attention and made me smile often (ironies rather than slapstick) and it left me smiling. (The closest thing to a LOL moment was "He made a pass at me.") I definitely consider it a good movie for CaptainD's good movie writeoff.

DVD

The commentary track features director John Dahl and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley amusing themselves more than they amused me. There's a theatrical trailer for the movie, standard ten-minute "Making of" featurette with the usual suspects (cast and crew), and an interesting five-minute piece on CGI turning scenes shot in Winnipeg in the summer (not that Winnipeg lacks in winter weather!) into Buffalo in the winter.

© 2007, Stephen O. Murray



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD