Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, Bill Pullman, Luke Wilson,
Denis Farina, Philip Baker Hall, Jayne Eastwood,
Aaron Hughes, Scott Heindl, Marcus Thomas
Written by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £15.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 90 minutes
Directed by John Dahl
Frank Falenczyk (Kingsley) is a mob hitman. Or rather he would be if he wasn't so drunk all the time. When his drink problem means he misses yet another hit, his boss (Baker Hall) decides to take action. Normally, this would involve a bullet and / or a lot of concrete but, as Frank is a relation, he gets the mob equivalent of gardening leave: West Coast exile, AA meetings and a temporary job at a funeral home.
It's a highly contrived situation and one that stops the film achieving the cult status of, say, the director's one bona fide classic, The Last Seduction. But, as slight and wilfully eccentric as it all is, it's still an enormously enjoyable, if forgettable, dark comedy. Kingsley, effectively playing a drunker, lighter version of his Sexy Beast character, is never less than watchable and is always at the heart of the film's best moments. Of these, Frank's unerring honesty and his reaction to the group-hugging AA meetings are particularly amusing but the highlight has to be his tentative romance with Laurel (Leoni), the no-nonsense daughter of a corpse he's dressed. Their situation might be exaggerated but the two spark beautifully off each other and keep a sense of humanity even as events threaten to get a little silly. Leoni is one of Hollywood's great underrated leads and she only confirms that here. It's her best performance since Flirting With Disaster and helps make You Kill Me a very pleasant diversion.
EXTRAS *** You Kill Me is a solid package all round. There's an interesting, informative commentary from Dahl, and behind-the-scenes and effects featurettes. It's not a Hot Fuzz-style, multiple bells and whistles landmark DVD event but, for a minor, low key film like this one, it's all you could possibly want and more. The team behind the rip-off double DVD package for The Assassination of Jesse James should watch and take note.