You Kill Me (2007)

I have overlooked this movie when it was released and it's through perusal of IMDb's various lists I came across it. I use the term overlooked because I usually would read the storyline and other movie information for titles that feature the Oscar winning actor Ben Kingsley; several of them appealed to my taste in the various genres he's delivered his quality contributions, though more did not. How else could I, or anyone else, have had the pleasure to see "House of Sand and Fog", if it weren't for the effort of looking for his stuff to start with? Kingsley has been known to make movies which potential monetary success were tentative. This movie is quite difficult to clearly categorize; it depends on the state of mind you're in at the time. I define it as a blend of dark and witty comedy with an expected but discrete drama fusion. The dialogue, mostly, captured my attention; of course, the performance by Ben Kingsley met my expectations. Téa Leoni, who's every single performance of the past twenty years I liked, again, did not fail to please and entertain me; she's a professional other actors have remarked look forward to team up with. The story is simple, straightforward, has many expected moments, not to use the term predictable which nuance I purposefully like to point out; sometimes simplicity allows good actors to shine because they make details count. Denis Farina plays an Irish gangster; he usually excels at half that role, the gangster part, and I was okay with that.

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.

I enjoyed the film. Good story, mostly well acted. The one thing that really REALLY annoyed me within the movie was Kingsleys accent. He can not(!) do a US American at all. It distracted me a lot during the film. He also seemed to be off his "game" as far as acting goes....the part could have perhaps been cast better. But, I did enjoy this film. I enjoyed the extras, especially the CG description. Was surprising to see that most of the snow was computer generated. Was interesting also to be made aware of the "stripping of colour" from some scenes. Was interesting to see the side by side shots showing the colour before and after. It was done due to the fact that the trees had green leaves on them and they wanted a cold winter look.

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