Jonas1969
I enjoy dark comedy and I found myself drawn into the story in the beginning. Ben Kingsley is excellent as a Polish hit-man with an alcohol problem who gets sent to AA. Téa Leoni is equally good as his lover although their chemistry is less than perfect. For the most part the supporting cast do a good job, yet as a whole it is not good. For a dark comedy to be funny something has to happen, but here it's mostly a drama with incredulous characters thrown in together. Perhaps the quality of the acting here detracts from the film because as a drama the story fails and it never really becomes a comedy.I get the feeling that director John Dahl realized it was to realistic and that's why he tried to get a comedic mood with some wacky music, but it doesn't help.If you find peoples pain a laughing matter then you'll laugh at You Kill Me. No? Then you'll sit through a pointless but well acted film.
brodlimmel
You Kill Me is a movie about an hit-man that is a alcoholic and goes to rehab. That is a cool premise and when he is at AA the movie is funny seeing how Frank (Ben Kingsley) reacts to these people. Then a little later in the film they introduce Laurel (Tea Leoni)as Franks love interest and honestly that part of the film bored me to tears. They just didn't seem like they had any chemistry with one another.This is a dark comedy, a crime movie and a romance and really only the crime part was done right. The comedy works in a way cause I am a fan of dark comedies but this only has a few funny parts the fact he openly says I am a killer I kill people for money and how he has no intentions of stopping I chuckled at that but thats really it. The crime part of this does work this isn't a Goodfellas but if they focused more on the mob part of the film I feel like I would've been more entertained. Then the romance like I said that is the worst part I honestly couldn't care less and it seemed like they couldn't either.Overall this is a rental because it had more going for it but it missed on certain parts that made me just bored on what was happening.
pontram
Warmhearted AND black ? Does that fit together ? In this special case, yes. I've watched You Kill Me three times over the last two years, and I was always pleasured. The idea of a hit-man with a serious alcohol problem is a wonderful solo for Ben Kingsley. Despite or because of his age (he is born 1943) he is very believable and shows some very fragile aspects of his character. The dry, black, likable humor is, despite always present, a minor matter. What matters is, how someone needs and tries to escape his addiction, and how someone finds his love for being alive.The movie has a silent, sometimes slow pacing, with very good music, the jokes are not loud or direct, and there are only a few short action scenes. But it never becomes boring, except the audience expects a different genre. Maybe a name like Jim Jarmush as director would have brought more attention to the movie, as there is a similar sense of humor and weirdness in his works.Sadly, there are a few glitches in the script, where the authors seemingly didn't really know what to do, as f.i. with Laurel's character. How did she manage becoming so dry and lonesome ? She is defined only with a few words about her business which seems to be not so important to her, though she is very successful. She heard many lies from men, and that's all ? Tea Leoni has not many opportunities to shine, but she has a strong presence and gets the best out of her character, which is not easy in a movie created around Ben Kingsley.The ending is also a bit uninspired, although it is consequent.Ben Kingsley has a very diversified filmography since his first success with Ghandi (1982). Sometimes he seems not very selective, as with Blood Rayne. In many movies he is a big supporting actor who saves the project with his bare presence, like Sean Connery did. With You Kill Me he has got his own little movie and everyone can see how good he feels with it (and the other actors, too). And I think this feeling is transmitted to the audience.What I'm really sorry about is that the movie started only in 35 cinemas US-wide, according to box office mojo. The Alcohol addiction theme may be a serious problem for many but it is not taken too easy in this fairy tale. Since movies aren't those big film-rolls anymore but small DVD's, reproduction costs shouldn't be an issue, so, there only remains the distributor's fear of failure. At least I would TRY and not already give up before starting.
John PolishGuy
I am a Polish guy from the fine city of Buffalo. This movie was filmed in Canada where there must not be any polish people to help with accents or pronunciation. Buffalo is a cheap city to film in. Why be in Canada? Just one sky line shot would have been nice. The story wasn't memorable. It wasn't really important to me i like to see my city and culture portrayed the right way. Screw Flanders!! And extra lineScrew Flanders again.Go Sabers! TO Screwed buffalo over!How many lines do i have now?
