"Kill Me Again" is a highly enjoyable action packed neo-noir thriller featuring a group of characters who are all thoroughly untrustworthy and a plot that's full of twists, double crosses and deception. This was the first movie directed by the talented John Dahl (who later made the brilliant "Red Rock West") and possibly it's for this reason that it didn't gain the box office success that it clearly merited.
After Fay Forrester (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) and Vince Miller (Michael Madsen) steal a large sum of money from a couple of mobsters, Fay takes an opportunity to hit Vince over the head with a stone and leaves him unconscious when she makes off with all the cash. Vince is a psychopathic killer and Fay is justifiably terrified of what'll happen if he catches up with her. She makes her way to Reno and there hires private investigator Jack Andrews (Val Kilmer) to help her fake her own death.
Jack's life has been in turmoil since the car accident in which his wife was killed and he's also deeply in debt to a violent gang of criminals who broke one of his fingers to show that they meant business when they said that they wanted his loan repayments made on time. Jack has serious doubts about taking the job but decides to go ahead anyway because of his desperate financial problems.
Jack makes a good job of faking Fay's death and even becomes the murder suspect but Fay then disappears before paying him his full fee. He decides to go after her but when Vince discovers that's she's still alive, things get desperately dangerous for Jack and he finds himself being pursued simultaneously by Vince, the police and the criminals.
Joanne Whalley-Kilmer puts great energy and enthusiasm into her portrayal of the treacherous and seductive femme fatale and Val Kilmer successfully conveys the aimless and apathetic state of mind which has overtaken Jack since the tragic loss of his wife. Michael Madsen steals the show, however, as the incredibly brutal and seemingly unstoppable Vince.
No-one would describe "Kill Me Again" as ground breaking but it is extremely exciting and wonderful entertainment for anyone who loves film noir.
After Fay Forrester (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) and Vince Miller (Michael Madsen) steal a large sum of money from a couple of mobsters, Fay takes an opportunity to hit Vince over the head with a stone and leaves him unconscious when she makes off with all the cash. Vince is a psychopathic killer and Fay is justifiably terrified of what'll happen if he catches up with her. She makes her way to Reno and there hires private investigator Jack Andrews (Val Kilmer) to help her fake her own death.
Jack's life has been in turmoil since the car accident in which his wife was killed and he's also deeply in debt to a violent gang of criminals who broke one of his fingers to show that they meant business when they said that they wanted his loan repayments made on time. Jack has serious doubts about taking the job but decides to go ahead anyway because of his desperate financial problems.
Jack makes a good job of faking Fay's death and even becomes the murder suspect but Fay then disappears before paying him his full fee. He decides to go after her but when Vince discovers that's she's still alive, things get desperately dangerous for Jack and he finds himself being pursued simultaneously by Vince, the police and the criminals.
Joanne Whalley-Kilmer puts great energy and enthusiasm into her portrayal of the treacherous and seductive femme fatale and Val Kilmer successfully conveys the aimless and apathetic state of mind which has overtaken Jack since the tragic loss of his wife. Michael Madsen steals the show, however, as the incredibly brutal and seemingly unstoppable Vince.
No-one would describe "Kill Me Again" as ground breaking but it is extremely exciting and wonderful entertainment for anyone who loves film noir.