You Kill Me (2007) User Reviews

Hits the mark

[Slickflix · 7/10 · 28 September 2007]

Hollywood loves assassins. You can't go more than a few weeks without a new hit-man movie hitting (sorry) the multiplexes. Hell, later this year, there's a movie coming out literally called "Hitman".

The new trend seems to be putting comedic twists on the assassin film. I guess we can thank Tarantino for that. Within the past few years, stuff like "Mr.& Mrs. Smith", "The Whole Nine Yards", "The Matador", "Grosse Pointe Blank", and "Lucky Number Slevin" gave us clever little plays on the assassin genre. If you're at all familiar with those films, you'll feel right at home with "You Kill Me".

Ben Kingsley plays Frank Falenczyk, a hit-man for the Polish Mob out of Buffalo, New York. Frank's an alcoholic, and recently it's been affecting his work. As a result, his superiors send him to San Francisco to attend Alcoholics Anonymous until he can sober up.

The movie doesn't win any points for originality, but it does have a lot to offer. Kingsley puts on a capable, sympathetic show - pretty impressive for a guy who spends the majority of the film getting hammered. Téa Leoni does well enough as the obligatory love interest. The age difference took a little getting used to. Dennis Farina and Philip Baker Hall are a treat to watch playing essentially the same roles they've been playing forever. Hall is the soft spoken head of the Polish Mob Family, while Farina is the loudmouth villain heading up the Italians. Bill Pullman also has a small role as a sleazy real estate agent. Anyone who's seen "Lucky Numbers" knows that Pullman has a talent for quirky lowlifes, and he shines here.

This is a very light movie. It won't blow you away in any regards, but it is a solid 90 minutes of easy entertainment. The script is essentially Frank's struggle to fight his habit. We also get a light love story and a touch of crime thriller. It's a strange juggling act, but Kingsley and director John Dahl pull it off. Don't get discouraged by the bland name. With just enough laughs, drama, and action – this is a small movie than just about anybody can have fun with.

Entertaining Diversion

[Paul-271 · 7/10 · 15 July 2007]

Quite uneven and rather heavy treatment of some topics meant to be amusing, but still, a pleasant change of pace from slasher or crasher movies. Kingsley is a drunken mobster somewhat unconvincingly told to attend AA by his godfather or boss or whatever.

In the end, this is the sort of pleasing yet non-filling confection of a movie which is suitable for couple to go to without compromise - or perhaps it's the perfect compromise.

It has enough guys running around with firearms to suit the men. It has Tea Leoni as a strange beautiful woman so there's some romance for the women. It has Ben Kingsley who looks 40 years older than Leoni involved in a romance with her which should satisfy something in most people, even if I'm unsure what.

Like most movies today, this one demands a huge suspension of disbelief not only about the gangster snow plow wars of Buffalo, but why Chinese want in on a piece of that action, how mobsters care for each other and if some homely old grunt can really get and hold a very hot Hollywood star girl.

Still, I'll take it over the current clash or crash offerings.

Tea Leoni finally gets some dialog to get her teeth into

[ikanboy · 7/10 · 14 July 2007]

Ben Kingsley plays a drunk hit man. Worst of all his drunkenness accounts for a hit going awry - he sleeps through it, stoned - so he's shipped off to San Francisco to get dry. There he comes under the tutelage of Bill Pullman who puts him into AA and a job as an undertaker's assistant ("right up your alley"). Initially refusing to be directed he succumbs when he's made an offer he can't refuse. Do it or you know what! Not that Pullman can pull that off. He's a frumpy mess of a guy, connected to the mob, and with as much testosterone as a gelding.

Tea Leoni shows up while he's doing the make up on a corpse, her much despised step father, with some bowling shoes to deck him up in. They turn out to be too small (she'd stolen them from a bowling alley), and Kingsley offers to "break some toes" to make them fit. A relationship has sown it's first seeds. Kingsley's straight on demeanor interests Leoni, who's burnt out on men, wary and cold. What she has going for her though is humor laced with acid. Reluctantly she allows Kingsley to maneuver her into seeing him, and she edges into the relationship.

Soon enough she finds out she's dating not only a drunk (reforming at times) but a hit man. This she discovers in one of the movies best scenes (Leoni's slow double takes are priceless!) when Kingsley explains to an enthralled AA meeting what he does for a living, and how alcohol is stopping him from doing it. By this time we are so smitten by the movie that we root for him to be dry long enough so he can get back to his job!

This is a wonderful vehicle for Tea Leoni's dry, dead pan, ironic delivery. As she produced it I have little doubt she either had a hand in the script or had shopped around for one to suit her style. I was hesitant to see this simply because I had confused her recent characters (Jurassic park 3, Spanglish) as being her: shrill, neurotic, psychologically toxic. She's not playing a nice character here either, but she's dropped the twitchy mannerisms, and gone back to the work she did on TV that brought her to fame. Quirky, yes, but drop dead funny!Keen, sharp and scintillating with her tongue.

Kingsley is good, but dozens of actors could have pulled this off as well. Pullman is great, his preppy looks smooshed behind coke bottle glasses, and large old suits that make him look weak and decadent. But the movie belongs to Leoni!

Not really a thriller but very enjoyable

[wfgwilliams · 23 July 2007]

This film has been advertised as a thriller. The pacing of this film is very slow and much too slow to be classified as a thriller. If you watch this expecting a movie full of action and suspense you will be disappointed.

Here's what's good about this film. All the talent that has been brought to this project has been first rate. The writing is excellent. All the actors down to the very minor ones nail their characters and deliver superb believable performances. The cinematography, sound and other technical elements are 'invisible,' which means that those aspects of the film have been done flawlessly.

The movie is very funny with many laughs. The comedy emerges from the situations as everyone in the film plays it straight as if it were a drama.

It takes a very skilled director to pull off this type of story successfully. Minor flaws can make it not work. This film works.

I think if you drop your fast paced thriller expectations for this film you will find it extremely enjoyable.

I may have to brake his toes You Kill Me

[jaredmobarak · 7/10 · 17 July 2007]

From the screenwriters of the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe comes the R-rated black comedy You Kill Me. It's an odd pairing, but at least you can say these guys have range. To helm this film, about a hit-man whose drinking problem has caused sloppiness and perhaps the demise of his Polish gang in Buffalo, we have John Dahl. I am a huge fan of Rounders, so I was hoping for some of the same here, with a dramatic arc that worked and made sense intelligently, but also bringing the laughs that the trailer promised. Thankfully this film doesn't disappoint. Yes, there are some moments of disbelief, but the dry, straight-laced delivery of everything else makes up for the leaps in logic that would otherwise eat at me for the duration. While not laugh-out-loud funny, Dahl has put together a nice slow burning comedy that allows its characters to live and breathe realistically and evolve in a somewhat believable manner.

Our aforementioned hit-man is played brilliantly by Ben Kingsley. I remember when I used to look at him as just Ghandi, but after the diverse catalog of films he has done recently, I've realized that he isn't afraid to branch out into darker fare. His role here has a lot going for it in comedic terms—he is an alcoholic, a loner that kills for money, and a resident of the arctic pole of Buffalo. Put all that together and you can think of a few funny situations for him to get into. To the filmmakers' credit, though, we never really get any of that except for the opening "job." When Kingsley's Frank sleeps through the one big job he is relied on to do, everything falls apart. What happens next is his journey to sobriety and friendship/love to pull him through to an understanding about what he really is living for. What worked for a film like The Matador couldn't be as effective here. Frank isn't having a nervous breakdown or losing his cool, he is off the job seeking help so that he can go back on the payroll. We don't need him to drunkenly wave a loaded gun at people, the comedy instead comes from his fish-out-of-water situation, being a cold-hearted killer trying to warm up to recovering alcoholics and a community he is not used to being sober around.

Kingsley definitely plays the role to perfection, never faltering from his matter-of-fact tone or takes no crap attitude. Everything out of his mouth is carefully orchestrated and he is not one to waste his own or others' time. This fact makes some scenes hilarious because of the reactions from those he is speaking to. When he speaks from the heart and seriously, while sprinkling in his own experiences murdering people, during AA meetings, the utter silence and occasional Amen from the audience is gold. Besides his unfaltering demeanor and his sardonic sarcasm, it is when he plays off of love interest Téa Leoni when some of the best laughs occur. These two have a wonderful rapport and when they go at each other rapid fire, with one quip/comeback after another, you'd think it was all ad-libbed—the timing is that good. Leoni has been surprising me lately with her career. I don't know why I used to think she was annoying, but recently having seen films like House of D and her early work in Flirting With Disaster, I realize that she is good at both the dramatic and the comedic.

The who's who of supporting players also does a nice job anchoring the story. Luke Wilson seems to really just be playing himself, but the laidback friend is what is needed for the role. Philip Baker Hall and Dennis Farina show how it's done as two rival mob bosses in Buffalo, (yes, I said mob bosses in Buffalo, I'm constantly scared for my life when walking around downtown at night). Their storyline is handled well and counteracts the subtle humor going on at rehab in San Francisco with some tense moments trying to keep the Polish afloat at the hands of the ever increasing Irish crew. Mention is also needed for Bill Pullman who has been making some good choices of late in small supporting roles. His self-absorbed real estate agent is entertaining because his ego won't let him be intimidated by the killer he is conversing with.

The laughs may not come over and over again, but when they do it's smartly and appropriately. The fact that everyone in San Fran who hears Kingsley is a hit-man just accept it like someone saying they washed their clothes that morning is a bit rough to get by, but really it doesn't matter in terms of plot progression. The writers also try to distill the problem with Frank saying how it's Alcoholics "Anonymous," which brings a smile to your face for nothing more than the corniness of the line. I also don't know how perfect placing the movie in Buffalo was. It seems the writers needed a cold, drinking town up north and our wonderful home of Buffalo was the first to come to their heads. When was the last time you heard about the Irish and Polish mob going to war while the Greeks stood back to see who came out on top? Yeah, that's right, never. I did like the touch of hometown words by naming an Irish bar Scajaqueda. Just proves again these guys had no clue what they were doing with location. Overall, though, the film works despite any of its shortcomings.

Nice little black comedy with Gandhi as a hit man

[mgconlan-1 · 7/10 · 21 June 2007]

Mahatma Gandhi as a professional hit man? Believe it or not, it works. Ben Kingsley plays Frank, an enforcer for the Buffalo Polish Mafia who blows a major hit because he falls into an alcoholic stupor, and his bosses send him to San Francisco to join A.A. and get clean and sober. Meanwhile, the guy he was supposed to kill and didn't, Irish gangster Edward O'Leary (played by "Law and Order" veteran Dennis Farina, looking considerably less rumpled here), makes an alliance with the Chinese gangs that threatens to put the Poles out of business. Meanwhile, Frank's "minder" (Bill Pullman) gets him a job at a mortuary, leading to a meet-cute in which he falls in love with the stepdaughter of one of his clients (Téa Leoni) and acquires a Gay man as his A.A. sponsor (a marvelously warm performance by Luke Wilson in a role that in other hands would have been offensively clichéd). Though most of the situations here are so old they have lichens growing on them, director John Dahl and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely put enough fresh spins on them as to make this movie a pleasant time-filler, even though Wilson's character is yet another one of those annoying parts in which we're told he's Gay but we never actually see him romantically or sexually involved with a man.

Quirky and cute

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 29 October 2013]

Frank Falenczyk (Ben Kingsley) is a hit-man for the Polish mob in Buffalo but the drinking is getting in the way. He is forced to sober up in San Francisco. Tom (Luke Wilson) is his sponsor from AA, and he gets a mortician job. He falls for Laurel Pearson (Téa Leoni) who loves older men because they're done testing.

Ben Kingsley is going deadpan acting in this one. He's especially proud of the precision in his killings. It's not the killing that he regrets. It's the lack of professionalism when he was drinking. It's a quirky character. He, Leoni, and Wilson are all likable people. They talk about the craziest things nonchalantly. It's a rather low energy affair. It's a quirky and cute cast, but they're not necessarily laugh out loud funny. Kingsley is too calm. He needs to play up the wackiness.

We've seen these movies, but You Kill Me is worth your time

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 6/10 · 7 April 2008]

When my mom and I were at Blockbuster the other day, I noticed You Kill Me, I kinda remember it being released in the theater and hearing a good review from a friend of mine. So I rented it and watched it the other night, I didn't know what to expect, I didn't even really know what it was about. Now, we have such a trend in Hollywood, the hit-man comedies, there are quite a few, why not? Something so serious and scary, you can't help but just have fun with it. But for the most part, it's starting to get old and some movies are just trying to upstage the classics like The Whole Nine Yards and such, so You Kill Me is just nothing new, so it doesn't stand out. While it's worth the watch, it has some fun moments here and there, it's just that I expected something new or fresh, and the funny drunk hit-man isn't working for me.

Frank is a hit man for his "family business", but when he sleeps right through the biggest hit, due to his drinking, he's messing up left and right, so his boss tells him get sober or get killed. So they send him to rehab away from home. There he gets a new job as a make up artist for corpses at a funeral home. He meets a new friend at rehab, Tom, who is Frank's sponsor as well. He also meets a new girl, Laurel, who becomes the unexpected love of his life, and helps him out with the biggest hit of his life.

You Kill Me isn't a bad movie by any means, it is worth the look, but just trust me, it's nothing special. But both Kingsley and Leoni pull in good and solid performances that make the film worth watching. I don't know if their kissing exactly "sizzled" the screen, but it's all good, their last scenes together during the big hit were great and really pulled off well. So if you have the opportunity to see it, go ahead and watch it, it's a decent enough film with some fun laughs and good actors.

6/10

Dark Comedy Showcases Leoni's Talents

[WriterDave · 8/10 · 11 July 2007]

"You Kill Me" is as dark a comedy as you can get. It may also be the first artistically successful romantic comedy noir. Directed by John Dahl (best known for his indie-noirs "Red Rock West" and "The Last Seduction" and the underrated killer trucker flick "Joyride"), the film depicts a hit man (Ben Kingsley-deep in character) forced into Alcoholics Anonymous by his "family" because his drinking has been affecting his ability to kill people. Shipped off to San Franscisco to start his 12 Steps, he picks up a part-time gig at a funeral home and meets a sassy single woman with "boundary issues" (Tea Leoni-hilarious) after her step-dad dies and proceeds to start an unconventional romance with her while struggling to stay on the wagon and learn how to kill again.

The film starts off very low key, and Dahl keeps such a consistently dark tone it's hard to adjust to the cadence. As good as Kingsley is here, the show really belongs to Leoni. When she finally arrives on the scene, the film reaches a level of hilarity you weren't expecting. Her facial expressions, comic timing, and interplay with Kingsley as she learns the truth about his past are pure gold. Leoni has had her fair share of commercial successes ("Bad Boys," "Deep Impact," "The Family Man", and "Jurassic Park III") but it's in this type of offbeat low-budget comedy where she really shines. She was dynamite in "Flirting with Disaster" and was the best foil for Woody Allen since Diane Keaton in the otherwise forgettable "Hollywood Ending." Here all her comic charms are on display, and she proves that at the age of 40, she is aging not only gracefully and naturally, but with all her sexiness and innate talents in tact.

While the film goes through the predictable motions in its final act, it's the gooey goodness of the middle portion (especially one laugh-out-loud montage of Leoni helping Kingsley train for his return to "work") that will leave a smile on your face, with Leoni's luminosity as a comedic actress scorched into your mind.

An Out of Focus Story But Very Well Told

[gradyharp · 6/10 · 23 September 2007]

Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have had success with such collaborations as 'The Chronicles of Narnia' and 'The Life and Death of Peter Sellers', proving their skills, and yet in this strange amalgam of serious versus romantic versus dark comedy they have created a series of vignettes loosely tied together and named it YOU KILL ME. The film as directed by John Dahl (aided by a superb cluster of fine actors) almost works despite itself, but in the end the audience is left wondering just what the purpose of the fragmented nature of the story was! The story begins in Buffalo, NY where the Irish gang is coercing the Chinese gang to join forces against the rapidly diminishing Polish gang. The head man for the Polish is Roman Krzeminski (Philip Baker Hall) aided by Stef Czyprynski (Marcus Thomas) both of whom rely on their hit man Frank Falenczyk (Ben Kingsley) - an aging alcoholic who lately has had too many missed or messy deaths because of his constant state of inebriation. Roman feels the pinch as Irish gang leader Edward O'Leary (Dennis Farina) escapes being snuffed by Frank, and Frank is sent to San Francisco to dry out and shape up. In San Francisco, Frank is monitored by Dave (Bill Pullman) who finds Frank a job in a funeral home making up corpses and forces Frank into AA meetings. Gradually Frank gets sober, only to meet a woman Laurel (Téa Leoni) who is also a bit beaten by her own demons. They form a fragile and odd relationship, each for some reason feeling the need to mutually open up - a new experience for both. Frank's AA sponsor Tom (Luke Wilson) adds to the growing away from alcohol process and also aids Frank in his attraction to Laurel. Lapses into booze occur and Frank finally feels he is a failure and returns to Buffalo to resume his 'work', but to his surprise, the changes that occurred in San Francisco follow him - in a good way.

Even with the Cuisinart-blended fragments of a story, the cast is so strong that the film works. Kingsley is convincing, Leoni is superb, and the rest of the ensemble rises to the occasion with the little screen time they are given. And while the movie feels like a spoof on AA meetings and a spoof on organized crime and on funeral parlor secrets, in the end it seems like a fairly solid love story - albeit a weird one. YOU KILL ME is an acquired taste. Grady Harp

Nonsensical Mess

[d_petzold300 · 3/10 · 4 January 2009]

This movie stars Ben Kingsley as Frank, a hit man for some Russian mobsters based out of Buffalo. He is also a raging alcoholic, and this has caused his job performance to decline. After he falls asleep in his car during a would-be hit, his mob boss uncle sends him to San Francisco, where he is to attend AA meetings and get a job as a mortician's assistant. If you're thinking that this makes absolutely no sense, you're not alone.

It gets worse. Well, it actually gets better, but not before getting much, much worse. Frank suddenly becomes a master mortician in spite of a complete lack of training, but his reactions with the people in the funeral home and the AA meetings are interesting. The viewer starts to root for him as they notice positive changes in his life. Luke Wilson is a welcome addition as Frank's sponsor, although he is given almost nothing to do (his character does tell us he is gay, but this ends up having no significance whatsoever). The movie plunges headlong into idiocy with the introduction of the Tea Leoni character. She is completely unrealistic, and her role as a love interest to Frank flounders, as the two actors have no chemistry together. Around the time she comes into the picture, Frank becomes much less engrossing as a character. His characterization is seemingly random; there is no consistency in his behavior. The comedy is low-key and only intermittently funny, especially disappointing considering the comedic pedigree of the cast.

Problems abound in this one. Kingsley's accent is terrible and inconsistent. It alternates between Italian, Russian, and Hispanic. Throughout the course of the movie, Frank tells numerous people he is a hit man (including an entire AA group), but nobody seems to care, or wants to do anything about it. The movie relies on cliché scenes to carry it through its final act, most notably when Leoni's insufferable character chases Frank down at the airport, just when he is about to board a flight back to Buffalo.

Though it has a strong premise and an interesting first half-hour, the movie quickly becomes a total disaster and devolves into complete nonsense. At the end of the film, Frank celebrates one year of sobriety. I hope to celebrate many, many years of not having seen "You Kill Me".

My Grade: D+

Very Dark, Very Entertaining Comedy

[nturner · 9/10 · 8 November 2008]

This little dark comedy is made a real treat by the professional, understated acting by all of its stars and direction that has produced pure entertainment rather than a silly mess.

The plot of the film couldn't be any more far-fetched. Frank Falenczyk, a hit man for a low-level crime family in Albany, New York, is not performing well because he has an alcohol problem. He is sent to kill the boss of a crime group who is muscling in on the territory. Instead of doing his job, he passes out from drink in his car while waiting. What follows is probably the weirdest family intervention scene ever filmed in which Frank's boss and other members of the crime family tell him that he must go to San Francisco to seek rehabilitation.

Frank is packed off to San Francisco, but it is clear his heart is not into the rehabilitation idea for his first two purchases are a gun and a bottle of vodka. He goes to an AA meeting and views the whole process with disdain. After leaving the meeting early, he is approached by Dave the realtor who arranged for Frank's apartment and a job as an undertaker's assistant. Dave has some sort of connection with Albany, and Frank is told in no uncertain terms that this is his last chance. Dave assures Frank that he will be reporting regularly to the head of the crime family back East.

With no other choice, Frank starts going to the meetings where he meets Tom. Tom is a gay toll booth attendant at the Golden Gate Bridge who is wise to the ways of AA. One of the elements that impressed me about the script of this film is how Tom's character is handled. Yes, he is gay, but there is no gay angst associated with his character, and there no Gay Tom subplot. Tom is just a normal guy who just happens to be gay - a refreshing change to the way most gay characters are dealt with in films.

Laurel shows up at the funeral parlor with a pair of bowling shoes for her dead stepfather, and Frank is immediately attracted as it is clear that she is no shrinking violet when it comes to the harsher realities of life. They begin dating.

Putting all of these elements together could have easily produced an over-the-top mess of absurdity, but You Kill Me is not. Instead - as alluded to regarding the character of Tom - it is a perfect blend of excellent acting and subtle direction that produces unadulterated entertainment.

The cast is headed by Ben Kingsley playing Frank, and Kingsley gives us a man we can believe can murder in cold blood, yet possess the weaknesses of a man addicted to alcohol and smitten by a sassy woman.

As for that sassy woman, Téa Leoni is perfect in the part. Her voice and facial expressions convey worlds of irony mixed with amazement when it comes to her character's relationship with a killer.

Luke Wilson gives a wonderfully understated performance as Tom. Dave is played to his quirky best by Bill Pullman, and the respective leaders of the "good" and "bad" crime families are given credible umph by Philip Baker Hall and Dennis Farina.

Add numerous other distinctive character types revolving around these main characters and tons of incredibly witty lines delivered by Frank and his friends, and you have an extremely entertaining - although very dark - comedy.

A Light Black Comic Amusement From One of the Best In the Field

[jzappa · 7/10 · 2 March 2008]

You Kill Me is a cute entertainment. John Dahl, whose atmospheric noir thrillers Kill Me Again, Unforgettable and The Last Seduction fascinated me with their coziness and whose Rounders absorbs me to watch it repeatedly and never grow tired of it, directs a film that, despite not bearing the familiar climate his other films have, still has that tucked up warmth that they all have, even his lesser ones like Red Rock West.

This movie has a very dry sense of humor that works even when it isn't a punchline, which makes it consistent. For instance, Ben Kingsley, a Polish hit man who is sent to an AA in San Francisco, nonchalantly and laconically tells the group that he is a hired killer and that his goal is to overcome his drinking problem so he can return to being a competent murderer. The group, as dry and morbidly apathetic as he is, simply applaud him and welcome him with support, which very much taps into my own personal sense of black humor.

Dahl's early noirs always had a similar sense of humor that never detracted from their darkness or their moodiness or their seamless noir home video or late-night movie-going feel. However, You Kill Me is a straight comedy yet it has the same degree of black tongue-in-cheekness, thus it isn't a gem like the others. You Kill Me is a light amusement that one enjoys and passes. Dahl's direction is tight and laid back and the story is very preoccupying.

There's a sleepiness to this movie. The cast is very secure and likable, especially Kingsley and Dennis Farina, who returns to the gangster comedy like a highly anticipated guest at a reunion. Even before the gorgeous San Francisco locale, the Buffalo, NY bookends are very gladdening and infused well. We don't often get movies that showcase organized crime in smaller cities, much less the scant Polish mob. You Kill Me is not electric. It's a movie to watch curled up in bed at night or in the morning to get lost in. And it's done by one of the best craftsmen of that plain-and-simple family of cinema.

Love Kills

[doubleo · 5/10 · 4 July 2007]

Stylistically uneven, and a bit rough around the edges, this film still gets points for proposing a rather unusual, and interesting, moral dilemma, sensitively tackling some tough emotional subjects, and marvellous, if somewhat one-dimensional, performances from the entire cast. Particularly notable is Bill Pullman, as a morally corrupt sleazy drunkard realtor. There is some truly great dialogue, though the humour is a bit flat and heavy-handed throughout. It is during the dramatic parts that the film redeems itself, and feels genuine and authentic. The second and third acts are tighter than the first - or, perhaps, one just gets used to the quirkiness of it by then.

Miss Leoni's hair looks especially terrific, and some of the San Francisco shots are quite beautiful.

not too terrible

[LuciaJoyce · 6/10 · 20 June 2007]

Ben Kingsley reprises some of the gangster cool but none of the cockney fury of his gangster from "Sexy Beast" in the lead role of Frank Falenczyk, a supposedly Polish-American hit-man for a Polish-American gangland family/snowplow concern, though for the life of me Frank speaks as if he's got an Irish accent (and he's called "Francis" for much of the movie, mucking up my ethnic stereotypes). Dealing with his deadly, deadening job in the career-wise nowheresville of Buffalo NY is difficult, so Francis drowns his boredom in alcohol, which dulls his efficacy hit-man-wise. He's sent by his boss (Philip Baker Hall) to sunny San Francisco, where -- sponsored by an understanding tollbooth guard (Luke Wilson) in an insanely tolerant AA meeting, and getting involved with an even more insanely supporting beautiful woman (Tea Leone, who's made a fortune from these kinds of roles), Francis decides to dry out, straighten up, and become the best darned hit-man he can possibly be.

A lot of this movie will seem familiar to fans of the SOPRANOS, and will seem, in comparison to that greatest of TV shows, remarkably frivolous. (It doesn't help that Sir Ben Kingsley killed, so magisterially, in the Sopranos episode in which he appeared.) Director John Dahl (Red Rock West, The Last Seduction, The Great Raid) seems overwhelmed by the deliberately indie quirkiness of the script; he gains momentum, although only briefly, during the one big action sequence. Luke Wilson underplays his role so unmemorably, it's seems strange that he's credited at all: he could have been, for all intents and purposes, a cameo.

What elevates this movie are Kingsley and Leone. Kingsley seems weirdly detached from what seems intended to be a comedic role; he's so amazingly expressive, and a few wry moments are made from close-ups of his face alone. And Tea Leone (who co-produced) is a fascinating actress. Her timing's quirky and yet never unnatural; her character is never more than two-dimensional, but the viewer can never be quite sure exactly which two dimensions are being inhabited at any time. Whenever she's on the screen, even in the predictable third act, you're not quite sure where she's coming from, where she's been, where she's going. The movie would have been much more interesting if it centered itself on her.

Writers need to let their stories go where they want to go

[MBunge · 6/10 · 17 May 2011]

You Kill Me is a nice film that could have been better if it hadn't gotten so caught up in its own premise.

Frank (Ben Kingsley) is hit-man and primary muscle for a Polish crime family in Buffalo. I've never really heard of the Polish Mafia before, but apparently they've got it in Buffalo. Frank is also a drunk and when he drinks too much he passes out, missing his chance to kill the head of a rival Irish crime family (all criminals seem to be ethnic in Buffalo), the head of the Polish mob, Frank's uncle, sends his alcoholic nephew to San Francisco to dry himself out. Out on the Left Coast, Frank gets a job preparing the bodies for showing at a funeral home, starts going to AA meetings and meets a really tough chick named Laurel (Tea Leoni). But as Frank tries to stop drinking so he can get back to killing, his crime family back home gets more and more squeezed by its enemies. Though Frank wants to see what he can make of life with Laurel, he's drawn back to Buffalo to make one final stand.

I would guess that synopsis doesn't sound like a particularly funny movie, but You Kill Me is fairly amusing. Kingsley creates in Frank a none-too-bright, emotionally unaware "fish out of water", whether he's in an AA meeting or nervously asking Laurel out on a date. Frank also has an utter lack of hypocrisy about what he does for a living and why he does it. The story does ask you to accept that no one cares or gets upset when Frank tells them he kills people. I know that San Francisco is supposed to be all tolerant and stuff, but you would think that the folks out there would recoil just a bit from someone who performs murder-for-hire.

Tea Leoni is also quite nice as a woman who's smarter and in some ways tougher than her professional killer boyfriend. But the movie never does enough with Laurel and that's related to its main weakness. T he idea of a hit-man being sent out to San Francisco to stop drinking and "get in touch with himself" is pretty neat, but the story gets trapped in that concept. Once Frank gets out there, you become interested in him and in Laurel and in the other people he meets out there, like his gay AA sponsor Tom (Luke Wilson). There's a funny and charming dynamic that develops but gets cut off as the movie keeps going back to the state of Frank's crime family in Buffalo. To the audience, though, there's no real reason to care about what happens to the Polish mob or bother with why they're better than the Irish mob or the Greek mob or the Chinese mob.

One of the tricks of writing is learning to recognize that you may intend a story to go in one direction but once you start, the story may want to unfold in a completely different way. You Kill Me wanted to stay in San Francisco and say more about this world and these people Frank found himself with. For example, what burned Laurel so badly in life that a short, bald, middle aged assassin looks like great relationship material to her because…at least he's honest? But these filmmakers weren't paying enough attention to their own film to see that.

You Kill Me is mildly entertaining, mostly for the good work of Kingsley and Leoni, but it's one of those movies that you can tell could have been a lot better.

Wonderful performance by Ben Kingsley but that's about it...

[imdbbl · 18 February 2010]

You Kill Me stars Ben Kingsley as Frank Falenczyk, a hit man whose work for the Buffalo-based Mafia has been hampered by his hopeless alcoholism. He goes off to San Francisco where Alcoholics Anonymous awaits, as does Dave (Bill Pullman), who helps Frank get an apartment and a job in a mortuary. The job introduces Frank to Laurel (Téa Leoni), whom he begins a relationship with while occasionally falling off the wagon and attending AA meetings. Luke Wilson makes an appearance as a fellow alcoholic who mentors Frank through the program. You Kill Me is a smart and charming black comedy but there's really no reason to watch it other then the wonderful performance by Ben Kingsley. The script is not very strong and even thought the film has a few funny moments here and there, overall it's not nearly as funny as it should be. Plus, it has been done before. The film lacks originality. Sure it's entertaining and enjoyable but it's one of those films that you can very well miss. In conclusion, a decent watch mainly because of Ben Kingsley.

6/10

Has its moments but is mostly a misfire...

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 28 April 2008]

File this one under quirky noir – a kind of nod in the direction of Huston's Prizzi's Honor that isn't quite as smart as it sets out to be but which has enough likable characters to keep you entertained.

Ben Kingsley plays Frank, an alcoholic hit man drummed out of the family business until he straightens himself out after he falls into a drunken slumber while waiting for his latest mark, a rival gangster planning to team up with the Chinese to squeeze Frank's family out of the organised crime business. Frank's long-suffering uncle (Philip Baker Hall) sends Frank to San Francisco where's he's found work preparing corpses at a morgue and forced to attend AA meetings.

Underneath all the quirky little touches there's a very ordinary story of redemption here, and this, coupled with a few too many characters, means You Kill Me isn't quite as good as it could have been. Given the film's modest running time, some of these characters don't really get enough screen time (Luke Wilson's gay AA sponsor being the most obvious example) and I couldn't help thinking the film could have been so much better had it spent a little more time letting us get to know the people we were watching. Ben Kingsley is good in a role he perhaps isn't entirely suited for (I can think of half a dozen actors who would seem to be more suitable for the role), but his character seems a little too buttoned down at all times to convince as a hopeless drunk incapable of performing his duties. Tea Leoni's character, with whom Frank embarks on a tentative relationship has issues, but these are also underdeveloped to the point that they are referred to only twice, both times without any elaboration or specifics. Leoni looks terrific, though, and has an incredibly sensuous mouth.

You Kill Me will entertain most people, but there are a few too many credibility-stretching moments that will pull you out of the movie at points when the writers are trying to pull you deeper into it. I'm no expert, but I can't really see many hit men being given second chances when they bungle things as badly as Frank does and has (even if he is family), nor do I imagine many assassins freely admitting their occupation to the members of an AA meeting

I'm Frank and I'm an alcoholic

[kapelusznik18 · 6/10 · 22 February 2017]

***SPOILERS**** Always drunk and nipping on a bottle of vodka hit-man for the local Buffalo Polish mob-The Cosa Polska-Frank Falenczyk, Ben Kingsley, is ordered by his boss Roman Krezminski, Phillip Baker Hall,to go west young man to far off San Francisco and dry out with Polish mob controlled real-estate agent Dave, Bill Pullman, getting him a place to stay as well as a job as an assistant undertaker for at a local funeral home. Besides that he's forced to attend AA meetings to get him straightened out an off the booze so he can stay awake and shoot straight on his next assignment by Roman. That's to knock off his rival in crime local Buffalo Irish mob boss Edward O'Leary played by Italian/American actor, and ex Chicago cop, Dennis Farina. It's O'Leary who together with the help of the New York Chinese mobsters who is planning to take over Roman's mob operations in Buffalo.

It's at the Doris Rainford, Alison Sealy-Smith, funeral parlor that Frank meets Laurel Pearson, Tea Leoni, who's there to have her dead step father readied for burial and Laurel not only turns out to be Frank's cup of tea, replacing all the booze that he's been drinking, but fall in love with her who's young enough to be his daughter. Juggling his affair with Laurel and staying off the sauce Frank starts to reevaluated his life and realizes that his job of killing people isn't as rewarding as he at first thought it was. Also his attempt to stop drinking doesn't go so well with him getting smashed at a party and ending up smashing one of the party goers car.

***SPOILERS**** It's when Frank gets the news that his boss Roman was knocked off back in Buffalo by the O'Leary gang he decides to take just one more shot, at O'Leary, before quitting the killing for hire business. But this time around he has a partner that he hadn't counted on to help him with the job his girlfriend Laurel Pearson to cover, unlike his late boss Roman, his back. Tender May to December love story between two people from different sides of the track who meet at a funeral parlor and later fall in love at an AA meeting hall. It's only after that one last hit-job on Irish mob boss Edward O'Leary- in revenge or payment in him having Roman knocked off-that the two love birds can kick it off and start a new crime free life in the "Golden State" in "The City by the Bay".

What's Wrong With People's Choice in Movies These Days!

[ghettodogaudio06 · 9/10 · 16 January 2008]

Very good movie. This movie is about a hit man who is an alcoholic who has to get clean for the family. I am not gonna wreck anymore plot. I thought Ben Kingsley played an amazing part. His character is so likable that you can forgive him for what he does for a living. This movie is a little bit of romance, some action, and a little comedy here and there. Tina Leonie plays the female love interest and she produced this movie. I thought she also did a great job and this is just a good movie. I work at schlock buster video and this film is so underrated. Why can't people enjoy good movies like this instead of crap like Shoot Em' Up or the new movie war. People are so desensitized this day and age that they only enjoy rude comedy by the American Pie Team or just mindless action movies about war or killing. Yes this film is about killing but at least it has a good thorough story that actually makes sense and has good acting instead of the poor acting of the guy from The Transporter in War or the disgusting language of American Pie Beta House. If you like a movie with substance check this film out as it is a killer!

Dark comedy with a great actor....

[MLDinTN · 6/10 · 23 May 2008]

however, the script just isn't as smart. Ben Kingsley yet again gives a great performance. He's very believable as Frank, an alcoholic hit-man, sent to San Fransico by the boss to go to rehab. He works in a funeral home and meets Laurel, whom doesn't seem to mind to much that he's in AA. And even when he tell her the truth about his job, as well as his AA group; no one seems to really mind. And this was one part I had a problem with because I think a woman would care that the guy she's dating shoots people for a living. Things go badly for the family back in Buffalo, so Frank must go back and take care of things. But, Laurel won't give him up so easily.

Now to the story: it could have been better. It's a dark comedy, amusing at times like it should be, but it just seems to develop slowly. Needed some more action or for it to have more laughs and not be as serious.

FINAL VERDICT: A good movie for watching Ben Kingsly do his thing, but plot needed to move swifter.

You Kill Me

[rajdoctor · 4/10 · 5 October 2007]

A few things attracted me to go and watch this movie. One, Ben Kingsley; second, knowing that this is a different gangster movie; and third, it is a dark comedy.

The story is about an alcoholic hit man Frank Falenczyk (Ben Kingsley) who is sent (by his gang) to California to attend workshops of Alcoholic Anonymous because he misses out on his jobs of killing people. Frank is also forced to work at a mortuary – cleaning and preparing dead people's body for funeral ceremonies. Here he meets Laurel Pearson (Tea Leoni) and both like each other and fall in love. The gangster war eliminates most of his gang and Frank returns to avenge the killings. Laurel helps Frank in his taking revenge, finding love and getting over his alcoholic problems.

The movie tried hard to be different. The movie also tried to present itself as something intelligent and above the rest. And that were its problem. The story was obviously different, the script and treatment were bad. The dialogues – though sounding witty and intelligent – sounded forced and stupid. It did not bring any smiles on my face. I think the casting also was poorly done. Ben Kingsley, though a great actor was a miscast. The love affair between Ben and Tea did not have any chemistry throughout the movie. I could not understand the motivation of Tea to be so flirtatious with Ben to begin with.

Only two saving grace that I could remember from the movie – first, the musical score by Marcelo Zarvos – which I think was quite good and second, the 5 minute long gangster shootout scene in the middle of the movie – that was glueing.

Director John Dahl who has found his comfort zone in making thrillers; fails to attempt a different genre with same backdrop characters and story.

(Stars 4.5 out of 10)

See this movie

[dbborroughs · 8/10 · 18 August 2007]

Far from perfect its absolutely charming with a super cast headed by Ben Kingsley as a hit-man with a drinking problem. Sent from Buffalo to San Fransisco to dry out when he blows a hit, Kingsley attempts to get his life in order.

Funny, touching and atypical, no one is really a cliché. As I said its not perfect, it meanders a bit too much and the mob stuff is a bit worn but its still a charming film. I think the whole things works thanks to the across the board excellent performances. First and foremost is Ben Kingsley who once again proves himself to be one of the finest comedic actors working today.

This is one of those movies you like with your heart more than with your head. This is one to see and share with as many people as you can force into seeing it.

One Day at a Time

[ferguson-6 · 7/10 · 5 July 2007]

Greetings again from the darkness. "Rounders" director John Dahl delivers a dark comedy with some terrific lines and a very entertaining alcoholic hit man played by Sir Ben Kingsley. The very odd selection of Kingsley's love interest is Tea Leoni, who for whatever reason, just can't find the right role for her talent.

Much suspension of belief, logic and reality must occur by the viewer, but if you can, then you will find a different type of film that has some moments of genius. It is a bit of a Coen Brothers starter kit and could have had much more dark humor, but there is enough for a good time. The downside is the convoluted multiple story lines of family honor/dishonor, mob life, AA meetings, loneliness, etc etc. Too many bits that don't quite make a whole.

Decent support work Dennis Farina, Philip Baker Hall and Owen Wilson who reprise any number of their previous roles, but special mention must go to Bill Pullman who really is a standout as one of the oddest Realtors you will ever run across. The whole AA story line is a bit preachy and the climax is a bit ridiculous, but still it is a fun little movie that is not the usual Hollywood fluff.

Special mention must also go out to the fine and unusual soundtrack and also some of the odd lighting and shots. Fun stuff for movie nuts.

Dahl misfires, and then some. This is horribly out-of-kilter

[pfgpowell-1 · 4/10 · 30 November 2013]

Well, what an odd film. So far I have liked John Dahl's films, but this one left me distinctly cold. There's something oddly out-of-kilter about the whole exercise, not least the whimsical cod Italian music which plays in more or less every scene, which is intended, I suppose, to inform us that it's all a bit of a hoot really, to the ghastly schmaltz of the 'hero' finally hooking up with the 'heroine' and providing the, for some, de rigueur 'happy ending'. In the other of Dahl's films I've seen schmaltz was not just absent, but replaced by a black humour which was the icing on the cake. Perhaps it looked OK on paper when Dahl first looked at the script. Alcoholic hit-man who is getting sloppy because he's drinking to much is sent by his gangster 'family' to another city to dry out. While there is meets a quirky female - I assume we're supposed to think her quirky or kooky or something - and they fall in love. But the family back home is being extinguished by other gangster so our hero goes home for one last job to avenge the murder of his boss. Actually, it doesn't even sound that promising on paper. I suppose I must allow that in other hands some director might, just might, have made something off it, but inexplicably Dahl isn't that director. Given the overall lack of cohesion and, for this viewer at least, the fact that the film missed all its targets by a country mile, it would be silly to list individual shortcomings, but I'll do so anyway. For one that find actor, great in the right part, Ben Kingsley (or Sir Kingsley as Christopher kept calling him in The Sopranos) is thoroughly miscast. Then there's the character he plays, an unrepentant hit-man who doesn't feel guilty that he has murdered people, just that he was often so drunk he made a hash of many jobs and didn't kill then cleanly. That's funny? OK, again I've got to accede that in the right hands it might well be made to seem so, but Dahl's really aren't the right hands. This film will certainly please some folk - after all, a great many go for all those goddam-awful formulaic blockbusters. But it didn't please me and if you intend watching it because you have liked other of Dahl's films, give it a miss. He can do, and has done, a lot better than this. Yes, it has many of Dahl's hallmarks, not least, some good lines, but the parts really don't add up to a respectable whole. Sorry, but that's the truth.