You Kill Me Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Not a hit, man

Director John Dahl has a couple of snappy thrillers under his belt, most noticeably, The Last Seduction, where he combined humour with film noir to create a terrific film. Here the accent is on the comedy with a bit of romance and thriller thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately, despite promising to be a quirky black comedy this never really goes anywhere, it doesn't work as comedy, it certainly doesn't work as thriller and the romantic subplot feels forced and unrealistic. Dahl directs competently but he isn't working with much in the way of a script and the film, even at a trim 89 minutes, outstays its welcome

Beyond revival and therefore a dead movie, more like.

This is such an odd, and altogether disappointing, film in so many ways. It's well shot, with some lovely use of depth-of-field and vivid colour, but it's so, well... empty.

I'm not even sure that it's something you could call a mere distracting, pleasant waste of an hour or so, because you have to push yourself into this movie to make up for its alarming degree of detachment, and avoidance of anything approaching the rules of engagement.

On the one hand, the premise of the hitman trying to re-adjust himself back in to everyday life just about holds together, rendering this a kind of sweet cousin to Leon, even if the Mob meets real-life element feels a tad old-hat post-Sopranos, and almost swerves into Mickey Blue Eyes territory. The cast is more than capable of their craft, and there's a fab performance, and some genuinely cracking lines, from Luke Wilson.

But most crucially, it all somehow never builds up a head of steam and is subsequently over before it gets started. Kingsley is obviously good at his craft, and there's a great character somewhere in his borderline autistic hitman, but he forever remains just too far over the 'distant' line to be engaging; the love interest is sweet, but lacks chemistry, and therefore feels utterly contrived; and the sheer lack of empathy you feel with the characters as a whole renders the plot down to mere mechanics.

There are also odd little sidelines, flicks and nuances that are never developed: why does Wilson's character keep referring to people's right to be gay or straight? Why is the action sent to San Francisco? And what is that the leads see in each other to spark and maintain their relationship? In an artier, indie flick these kind of things would have been part of the film's rich tapestry, but in You Kill Me, they become annoying frayed ends that ruin the overall finish.

Such a shame.