You Kill Me [2007] [DVD]

You Kill Me is a curious little movie. A noir/ gangster/ black comedy hybrid that skilfully integrates all these incongruous elements into a subtly pleasing whole. It may not be funny enough for those wanting copious belly laughs, it may not be viscerally exciting enough for aficionado's of the gangster genre and i doubt it's brackish or labyrinthine enough to cut it as classic noir . Despite this i rather enjoyed this tale of a hit man whose personal demons impinge on his work. It has quality performances from a solid cast and keeps you on your toes enough to maintain interest.
Frank (Ben Kingsley) is a hit man working for the Polish mob in Buffalo. He is also an alcoholic. We first see him downing bottles of vodka before a hit .Unfortunately while staking out the proposed victim -rival Irish mob boss (Dennis Farina) -he falls into a sozzled slumber and misses his chance. Knowing they can no longer rely on him his bosses send him to San Francisco to dry out and get his act together.
Once there he is overseen by officious real estate agent (Bill Pullman) who insists he join the local AA and gets him a job in a morticians dressing up corpses ready for burial. At the AA meetings he meets laconic fellow alcoholic Tom(Luke Wilson) and through his new job he meets Laurel (Tea Leoni) whose father has recently deceased. They form an unlikely bond , especially unlikely since he , deciding that honesty is the best policy tells her about his real job. But events back in Buffalo mean he will have to give up his new life and friends and return to sort things out once and for all.
Director John Dahl cleverly holds this slight and ,frankly implausible, plot together dexterously helped by writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely who add lots of dry dark banter between the characters. The final scenes are truly ridiculous and no matter how darkly mysterious Frank is it's hard to believe that a woman like Laurel would fall for him. It,s also hard to see this film rewarding repeat viewings. Yet for all this You Kill Me is a slyly amusing tale of a man on the wrong path in life being offered redemption and grabbing it with both hands...only it's not that straightforward .Now that is just like real life.

Hit man Frank Falenczyk of Buffalo, NY, has a problem. It took him seven bullets to finish off one contract. With another, a woman this time, he intended to slit her throat but missed and slit her eye. He was so drunk he couldn't do his job. Frank is an alcoholic.

Life changes for Frank (Ben Kingsley) when his small-time mob boss, Roman Krzeminski (Philip Baker Hall), orders him to go to the West Coast and dry out...or else. You Kill Me is an amusing black comedy of Frank's journey to sobriety. He knows that unless he stops drinking he'll never be able to resume his profession. He joins AA and doesn't like it one bit. He gets a job dressing bodies in a funeral home. (Frank turns out to be quite good with make-up.) Tom (Luke Wilson), a nice guy who also attends the AA meetings, becomes his sponsor. He meets Laurel Pearson (Tea Leoni) when he works on her recently dead uncle. As Frank gradually loosens up and accepts the idea of friendship (and maybe more with Laurel), he maintains his commitment to his profession. "It isn't that I'm sorry I killed them," Frank says, "it's that I'm sorry I killed them badly." Frank is serious about maintaining standards and begins to discuss this with Laurel and at AA meetings. He points out that he never killed anyone who didn't deserve it. Fortunately, by now they've come to like Frank and overlook his faults.

The movie veers off course with a conclusion that brings Frank back to Buffalo for a shootout and some vengeance. Fortunately, Laurel shows up to help Frank. They may have quite a future...but doing what?

All this is handled with deadpan seriousness by Kingsley in a fine and very likeable performance. Kingsley was 64 when he made this movie. He is fit and capable as a leading man, a hit man or in bed with Tea Leoni. While Kingsley carries this deadpan comedy, the other actors, especially Leoni, provide a lot of support.

...that were never truly realised. There was so much potential in the concept behind this movie that it could have been a great comedy or a great 'straight' film. As it stands though it just fails to satisfy on many different levels. Certainly its watchable, it delivers a degree of entertainment, but in the end I don't think I'd watch it again, just not that good.