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
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