The Kill Room (2023) User Reviews

some good skewering

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 22 November 2023]

Patrice (Uma Thurman) owns a struggling art gallery in the superficial moneyed New York City high art scene. She's approached by neighbor store owner Gordon (Samuel L. Jackson) to launder his money. She reluctantly accepts, but she still needs real paintings for the sales. Gordon assigns the painting chore to his assassin Reggie (Joe Manganiello).

I love the skewering of the high art crowd. I like this premise. I like these actors. It's all working great until Reggie shows up at the gallery. I thought the whole point of Bagman is that he remains anonymous like Banksy. The writing needs some subtlety and more smarts. I get where the premise is trying to go with the story. It goes on the wrong track a bit.

Great actors, but unfortunately fails to become really funny...

[imseeg · 5/10 · 7 October 2023]

Great to see Uma Thurman back on the screen, because she is such a wonderful actress. Where has she been all these past years? But however charming she (still) is, and however mildly amusing this movie is, it fails to become really laugh out loud funny.

Humor is personal, so perhaps others wont mind the cheap in your face jokes though, but I found them to be just a bit tiring.

The story is about Uma Thurman's money loosing art gallery. Then she meets Samuel L Jackson, who is part of a criminal enterprise with LOTS of money to launder. They start cooperating and then the story kinda tanks from there on...

Could have been better. Not bad, but defnitely not recommendable either if you are looking for a good laugh.

Good cast, humor, poor execution

[rehmankhilji · 5/10 · 14 October 2023]

The casting was remarkable, luring viewers in with excessive temptation from the start. As the story unfolds, you'll discover that the narrative and plot are indeed worth investing your time in. However, as the movie progresses, it loses momentum and ultimately, the execution falls disappointingly short.

The film explores the concept of selling something you don't desire but end up purchasing because everyone else is doing so. In essence, it delves into the notion that if you have an abundance of wealth, you become a pawn in one way or another. Uma Thurman dominates the screen throughout, delivering a performance in line with her character. Regrettably, the movie's conclusion is so devoid of meaning that it extinguishes any remaining excitement.

Whether you choose to watch it or not, hardly any difference.

éverything was there

[gehete-40949 · 6/10 · 17 October 2023]

The movie is not great, the critics are right about that. But you cannot understate what the actors gave us with the little they had. Samuel l jackson is as always giving out a very believable performance as crook gone art fraud, uma thurman was less believable as she stuttered at every businesslike word that was supposed to paint her as a serious art gallery owner. It was kind of hard to watch how played eccentricity can backfire . The side cast was doing a stellar job as well. I felt completely immersed in this bizarre and backwards underground art world. It just never came together, there was no real plot, awkward dialogue and a dissappointing ending. So not as bad as people would want you to believe but not good either.

Entertaining enough

[joker-4 · 6/10 · 28 September 2023]

The Kill Room is a crime satire set for slaying in the modern art world. Catering to an audience that might not be hip to those in jokes, director Nicol Paone wisely fills her canvas with the witty Samuel L. Jackson, the sexy Uma Thurman, and the chiseled Joe Manganiello. Although hung on stories seen before, The Kill Room is an entertaining enough piece worth a 98-minute glance in any cinematic gallery.

Scripted by Jonathan Jacobson, The Kill Room is amusing crime fiction wrapped in a comedic body bag as Reggie's murders eventually transform into avant-garde art. Reggie becomes known as the Bagman whose art, naturally, becomes more of a success than the laundering biz. The Kill Room itself then dips into a slight case of thievery as the plot follows Woody Allen's Small Time Crooks, which also features a cover business that becomes more of a success than the actual crime. As life imitates art, so too does art imitate art.

The Kill Room, like the art being satirized within, has clever subtext but lacks that deep impression. The movie successfully captures the transitory nature of art styles noting such as an allegory of movies as they exist within modern streaming services. The Kill Room itself might not present a shocking spectacle like the Bagman but when paired with a proper wine and cheese, could nicely kill off a Friday night.

Failed with a star line up

[wavescds-61767 · 2/10 · 7 October 2023]

Quite possibly the worst editing I've seen for a long while. The continuity is abysmal, there were times in watching where I thought I had skipped ten minutes forward into the storyline. A poorly edited, bad story premise with a star cast list does not make a good film. The selling point of this film is, of course Uma Thurman and Samuel L Jackson, and although their performances are as expected excellent, it doesn't manage to make the shoddy script writing/directing/everything else into a passable movie. Quite honestly disappointed in watching this film, and I would advise others to choose other options.

The Bagman

[nogodnomasters · 7/10 · 9 October 2023]

Patrica (Uma Thurman) is a struggling art dealer, not as successful as her peers. She takes drugs to help her with anxiety. Nate (Matthew Maher) is her drug dealer. She asks Nate if he knows any rich people who like art. Nate mentions this to Gordon (Samuel L. Jackson) who runs a deli and he also needs to launder money. Reggie (Joe Manganiello) is part of this group. He kills people in a rival group using a plastic bag. Gordon proposes to launder money through Patrica's gallery. Reggie creates "art" using his kill bag and a few brush strokes. Patricia sells it to a phony collector. She gets paid cash money and writes the artist a heck minus a commission. Her assistant is excited about the rough and dark "Bagman" art and it becomes a sensation in the art world. This was not according to plan.

A different type of crime drama with some comedy elements and a strong female character by Uma Thurman.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

How the mighty are fallen....

[frosteliza · 3/10 · 7 October 2023]

One can only assume that Uma Thurman and Samuel L Jackson either owed the director money, or she had something on them, to agree to take part in this tosh.

The premise is good, but the script is wooden and the directing and editing weak. Uma Thurman's intern is incredibly annoying. Mr Jackson, whilst acting as brilliantly as always, sports a ridiculous beard. Uma Thurman herself seems to have fallen an awfully long way from the heights of Kill Bill and her association with QT, and IMHO I would not have cast her in this non-action role.

The film appears to have gained some social respectabillity by showing that idiots who buy modern art are...well...idiots. Hmmm. Not exactly a revelation, is it?

The last fifteen minutes of the film are the best. Something actually happens. But even that is spoiled by poor, lax editing and writing. What should have been the exciting climax of the plot just falls flat, and the viewer is left wondering why this, why that, and why the other....

Entertaining comedy-thriller

[dlmiley · 7/10 · 30 September 2023]

I saw "The Kill Room" this afternoon. It is an entertaining comedy-thriller starring Uma Thurman, Joe Manganiello, and Samuel L. Jackson. Uma Thurman's character runs a less-than-successful art gallery that is bleeding cash since no one is buying any of her paintings. In steps Samuel L. Jackson with an interesting proposal - he will "buy" paintings made by Joe Manganiello from her in a money laundering scheme. Of course, things go horribly wrong when Thurman's assistant doesn't realize it is all a scam. I found the film to be very entertaining - filled with snarky comments on how the rich will buy just about anything when they think something is scarce and/or avantgarde. The film is well directed and acted and at a breezy 1 1/2 hours it is very pleasant diversion. Recommended - 7/10.

Not terrible but unremarkable

[josephdunn-67245 · 5/10 · 25 November 2023]

Was not too ardous and partially entertaining, relatively funny in parts. Not being a lover of fine art I felt the 1 hour 40ish aperture into the world of the high brow art industry to be reassuringly confirmational of my previous understanding of the type of people who inhabit that world. Pretentious and somewhat pathetically obsessed with one upmanship. So nothing new there. The Movie itself was slightly farcical which may have been the intent. But I found it hard to believe the ease at which certain characters took their introduction to the world of organised crime. Overall I didn't feel as if my time had been stolen. But its only ever going to be experienced once as there is absolutely nothing that merits a revisit. Mediocre without being Awful.

I found myself smiling a lot and feeling well entertained

[pip_bln · 9/10 · 11 October 2023]

I was a little surprised by the low rating here, but then I dared to watch the film and was not disappointed.

The film may not be for everyone and will not appeal to a wide audience, but it will certainly be of interest to artists, gallerists and collectors. For people in the art world, there are a number of very accurate references to actual behaviour, so I found it deliciously entertaining. Certainly, this film falls into the realm of shallow entertainment, but that genre is fully justified: and in that it deserves a good rating. I found myself smiling a lot and feeling well entertained.

With this in mind, I have allowed myself to be moved to a more generous score of 9 points.

Not an action movie

[catmanal · 7/10 · 30 November 2023]

So I thought about this film a lot after I watched it as I came away with mixed emotions and decided that the reason I actually enjoyed it was a lack of gratuitous action scenes. It's a slow burn, needs a degree of concentration to understand it and there are some fairly large plot holes and there's definitely a lack of big screen action scenes, which adds to the overall experience. It takes a good long look at the art world and the lives of the mega rich and pokes it very hard with a pointy stick. No Santa Claus though as I mistook there to be from the picture advertising it on Prime video. Not a Christmas movie at all.

Crazy Bad

[lacosa2-1 · 18 November 2023]

Uma Thurman does better in Lars Von Trier films. Unless you're an art buff, most of the film's dialogue with go over your head. The girl playing the assistant was not necessary at all to the plot. Watching Samuel Jackson play such enigmatic characters in the past only to have him meander about in this film was a grand waste of his talent. The film itself started with promise then devolved into a silly, boring and painful mess that I fast forwarded to a most unsatisfying end. These actors would do well to stay away from this director in the future. Overall, an embarrassing film. It was good to see Debbie Mazar again. She seemed to be the only character that fit into this movie.

The Kill Room

[henry8-3 · 5/10 · 25 November 2023]

Seeking a better way of laundering his mafia connected money, Samuel L Jackson discovers that the world of art where value is relative is the perfect tool to achieve this. He engages with spiky gallery owner / art dealer Uma Thurman who herself is facing hard times, to run this, with his hit man colleague Joe Manganiello persuaded to start paining great avant-garde works. The difficulty is that filthy rich New Yorkers start showing an interest in the paintings and long to buy them much to the annoyance of Jackson's mafia pals.

Whilst it is nice to see Tarantino favourites Thurman and Jackson come together to nicely play off each other, this is rather a flat, cold story, hampered both by the rather tired comic convention that any old rubbish will pass as art in snobbish art circles plus it all leads to a bit of a feeble, unconvincing climax. Manganiello seems barely awake throughout, although the rest of the supporting cast are good fun. It is however Thurman, who is terrific here and Jackson, admittedly doing his usual shouty, sweary, Tarantinoesque character, that make this worth checking out.

Mind candy

[bowmanblue · 6/10 · 21 January 2024]

I'm not going to say that 'The Kill Room' is the greatest film even, but I did find it on a streaming service and it looks like it was made specially for that platform. In other words, compared the dross which is mere 'content' you can find there, actually coming across a film with recognisable actors really was a breath of fresh air. It's because of this that I probably enjoyed it more than it probably deserved.

Uma Thurman plays a struggling art dealer who gets a 'break' in terms of selling art when career criminal Samuel L Jackson drops by and offers her a business proposition. It starts out well and her gallery takes off, but soon she realises that she has effectively made a deal with the devil, or at least the kind of organised criminals you really don't want to invite to your high class cocktail parties.

I quite liked the dialogue. Yes, the characters themselves may be - deliberately (?) vapid and shallow - but they were at least funny. Or rather they were suitably scathing to other - equally shallow and vapid - art critics who infest the high-brown scene. Thurman's intern may be a little bit annoying, but, apart from her, the combination of Thurman and Jackson carry the film with ease.

No, it'll never be up there with their other offerings like 'Kill Bill' or 'Pulp Fiction,' but if you're a fan of either actor, you'll definitely get something out of the film. Or, if you're just tired of films on steaming services that cost about as much as a glass of milk to get made, at least this one had a budget that the film-makers bothered to spend on a script and competent actors who could make the most of it.

The Transient Mirage: A Critical Examination of 'The Kill Room' and the Illusory Facade of Contemporary Art

[renerenerene · 6/10 · 6 October 2023]

In dissecting "The Kill Room," a compelling cinematic endeavor ostensibly dedicated to deconstructing the very fabric of contemporary art, a profound and provocative revelation emerges. This film, functioning as a mimetic entity, brazenly asserts the audacious notion that our present artistic landscape is naught but a wasteland of intellectual inertia. It posits, with unwavering conviction, that the foundational tenets governing our creative expressions are mere translations of fantastical realms fueled by the narcotic embrace of mind-altering substances.

Central to the film's discourse is the scathing indictment of the art market, an entity ostensibly buoyed by an elaborate arrays of fallacious arguments, meticulously woven together and rendered palatable through a veneer of ostentatiously erudite lexicon. Here, the cinematic narrative subtly contends that the art market, ostensibly an epitome of cultural sophistication, is paradoxically underpinned by a fragile scaffold of deceit, camouflaged under the weight of highfalutin academese.

Yet, for all its intellectual grandstanding, "The Kill Room" is beset by a palpable mediocrity in its directorial approach. The subtlety it aspires to exude is eclipsed by its conspicuous effort to appear intellectually superior. The actors, ensnared within the confines of a script demanding little more than the semblance of believability, are bereft of the opportunity to truly manifest their craft. This cinematic venture, a quintessential exemplar of Hollywood's tendency towards abbreviated storytelling, surrenders its artistic ambitions at the altar of expedient financial gain, metamorphosing into a cog within the ever-churning machinery of commercial exploitation.

In sum, "The Kill Room" undoubtedly offers a transient sense of amusement for its viewers. It dances upon the screen, captivating the senses momentarily. However, its ephemeral impact is akin to the vanishing ripples on a placid pond, leaving no enduring imprint on the spectator's psyche. The profundity of its themes, alas, succumbs to the transient allure of entertainment, rendering it a fleeting dalliance within the annals of cinematic engagement, swiftly forgotten once the curtains draw to a close.

Dark comedy and parody of New York high art galleries.

[TxMike · 30 January 2024]

Uma Thurman produced this and stars as Patrice, owner of a gallery that is definitely NOT thriving. Then she is approached by a man (Samuel L. Jackson) who wants to strike up a deal with her, when the conversation is over she realizes he is a drug dealer that needs a place to launder his money. Being in a big bind, the idea of a good % take pulls her in, soon she is deep, deep in the criminal enterprise.

But she needs a steady supply of artwork, to make the operation appear legitimate. Reggie the hit man (Joe Manganiello) is recruited for that task, even though he has no art experience.

The whole movie is dark comedy, I enjoyed it enough because of the actors. A few scenes are over-filled with vulgar language, the script writer loves the F-word and some dialog has multiple M-F references, to the point that it was like verbal vomit coming out of my TV screen and speaker system. But fortunately my player has a 15-second jump forward feature so I didn't have to tolerate all that vulgar language, I just skipped over it and lost no content.

On BluRay from my public library. My wife chose to skip, she is not entertained by this type of movie.

An artistic poke in the eye

[BoBo_Goal32 · 7/10 · 8 January 2024]

You got to be convinced to watch a movie with Uma Thurman, her daughter - Maya Hawke, Samuel L. Jackson and Joe Manganiello. Though the grade is pretty low, the execution is pretty damn good. It is entertaining, sarcastic and right in target, regarding its main theme. Maybe the end of it was kind of Shmaltzy, but most of the movie was good enough to be declared as enjoyable.

A Gallery manager, which got into slow period, get a good deal to launder money and turns a hitman into an artistic phenomenon overnight. Things gets tangled and the bizarre deal seem to go and collide an iceberg and the jolly bunch tries to get her way out of the predicament with flavored Characteristics of crime movies genre.

All and all its a great and funny movie that is laughing on the high society representatives and especially about art lovers, that spends their money on un-explained art, that your kids can make even better. For all of those that cannot understand modern art and the way people adore it, this is the movie for you.

The movie is so into poking and biting "fine taste" characters that it is sometimes forget about the main plot and when it returns, it seems so banal, but stable enough to pull its way all the way until the end of this not so long movie. An hour and a half that gets the job done and works for almost the entire runtime.

Great cast, but unremarkable film

[sinscopefilms · 5/10 · 14 March 2024]

The Positives:

The cinematography truly stands out, employing a mix of medium, long, and over-the-shoulder shots that bring a fresh perspective to each scene. The editing is top-notch, seamlessly keeping pace with the unfolding story. I was particularly impressed by the wide-angle lens shots, adding a unique visual flair.

It's always a treat to see Samuel Jackson on screen, and his presence in this film did not disappoint. Uma Thurman's performance, who is known for appearing in Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, was another highlight. The modern costume design deserves recognition as it brilliantly reflects the world of art-buying and selling.

The Mixed:

Although the film has its strengths, I had mixed feelings about its impact. The plot, while straightforward, and the exceptional acting, particularly Samuel Jackson's standout portrayal of Baker, couldn't completely lift the film above its comedic and clever surface. The film's humor was enjoyable and the absence of clichés was commendable. However, it failed to make a lasting impression. The film's direction left me feeling conflicted; although I enjoyed the idea of the storyline and humor, the overall execution didn't quite connect with me.

The Negative:

Despite its many merits, "The Kill Room" felt like a regular film that, while entertaining, didn't leave a significant impact. The comedic and overly witty acting at times felt disconnected from the film's potential to delve deeper.

Conclusion:

"The Kill Room" is a film that exudes charm, thanks to its innovative cinematography, standout performances, and music.

However, it lacks a lasting impact, circling between captivating and unremarkable. The film engages with greatness but never fully embraces it. It's a film that you might only want to watch once, even though it has a talented cast and a few truly enjoyable scenes.

Overall, "The Kill Room" provides a simple cinematic experience that, while sprinkled with humor and innovation, fails to leave a lasting impact on the viewer.

"When you make art from a truthful place, people know something about you."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 18 January 2024]

This was one confusing story, wasn't it? Not so much at surface level, but when you really think about it, the story seems to come apart. For example, where was the money coming from that Gordon (Samuel L. Jackson) wanted to launder? Surely not his bagel, oops..., bialy shop. Well then, was it the hit man money Reggie was earning from Andrei Gorlich (Nikolai Tsankov) and his son Anton (Tom Pecinka)? If so, why did the father/son team need a middleman like Gordon? And really, were the Gorlich's having that many people assassinated that required Reggie to have it laundered through Patrice's (Uma Thurman) Program Gallery. The checks were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, did that many high value targets exist in one place at one time that needed rubbing out?

I think what started out as a good idea for a script got lost along the way and got muddled in the translation. As gallery owner Patrice, Uma Thurman seemed to mug a lot with her facial expressions which I thought brought down her character. Folks like 'The Kimono' (Debi Mazar), Anika (Dree Hemingway), and the Galvinson's (Larry Pine, Candy Buckley) epitomized the intellectual snobbery one would expect to come with the territory of the big money art scene. When the audience cheered as Reggie strangled Roman Rashnikov (Alexander Sokovikov ) I thought to myself, what's wrong with these people? Don't they realize they're watching a murder in progress?

I guess this was meant to be a stab at dark comedy, but the whole time I couldn't make sense of it. It just didn't feel right with pieces that didn't seem to fit together properly. At least I was able to write this whole review without using the term 'Bagman'.

Who was Black Dreidle?

A pointless film

[djrmc24 · 3/10 · 19 February 2024]

The cast was here for The Kill Room but sad to say it was all for nothing. I was excited as well because I was happy to see Uma Thurman reunite with Samuel L. Jackson. Then come to find out this pairing was completely wasted by a bad and uninteresting script. This movie is even bad for straight to dvd standards as it wasn't even entertaining in the bad kind of way. The movie is a little over an hour and 30 minutes but yet still feels like a 2 hour plus film. I also think it was false advertising as it was promoted as an action/comesy, only problem is it is missing both of these ingredients. The Kill Room should have never been greenlighted by studio executives. The Kill Room gets a boring 3 stars out of 10.

A well written, well executed dark comedy gem.

[Stewball · 8/10 · 6 October 2023]

A well written, well executed dark comedy gem. I think a lot of art house regulars have been dragging it down because of it's anti-junk art, satirical theme--which thereby attempts to drag Samuel L. Jackson down with it. SLJ is an honest man.

Certainly Uma Thurmans' best effort in a long time. Put this at the top of the list of superlative art criticism satire along with "The Accountant", for the way it burned Jackson Pollock. The reluctant hit man turned avant guarde slop artist is. It's already gone from most theaters so check it out when it starts streaming or on DVD-/blue ray discs. It's a trip.

Surprisingly funny and consistent

[mycrobi · 6/10 · 13 February 2024]

I was very pleased, its not a big theatrical experience, but in the era of unlogical and plainly stupid movies, it was quiet a gem for an afternoon.

I really liked Patrice and Reggie's developing business relations and the real speak of art bullocks. Gordon's bakery as constant point for him, and that he is not a plain good or evil, and yeah even the main character is not good, but we can root for him. The story was simply consistent, nothing big or dramatic, but just enough to put me on focus for the playtime.

***Spoiler*** Plus the realisation scene was just right. Funny and not too cringe.

****Spoiler off***

Can recommend for one.

When director can't handle it

[verybiglebowski-88187 · 2/10 · 20 January 2024]

Everything is there, the plot, the stars, the production, but if you don't have a director, it all falls apart. Knowing how to tell the story using cinematic language, requires more than just contacts in the cinema industry. Learning about blocking, camera movements (when and why), dramatic structure, genre stereotypes, feeling the rhythm of the scene, it is know-how money can't buy. It's a shame, but also a trend in the recent network mass production. Bed, sloppy directing, along with the copywriter rooms ingenious "writing", time filling.story cotton wool, leaves little space for something new, fresh and groundbreaking. Bad directing, that is killing this show.

Actors now take a job without reading the script

[chinandchin · 1/10 · 24 November 2023]

Some people gave this movie 9 stars, ok I have to say I respect your job and so so so admire you for able to find more than one word to praise this super dumb, crazy bad and exceptionally dull movie, you guys are just priceless!!!

Yes, Uma Thurman is not the same now and Samuel L Jackson did tons of cheesy movies too, but still everything has a baseline, and this film is below 5000 metres ocean deep baseline. I just wonder do people still read the script before taking a job? Do they even bother to know if the production crew is formed by pofessional or in this case some university students or even just some high school nerds.

I am not disappointed, I just don't understand SLJ and Uma Thurman.