Film

You Kill Me

Cert: 15

Description: Ace hit man Frank Falenczyk allows his love of the bottle to interfere with his work for the Polish mob. New York family kingpin, Uncle Roman, exiles Frank to San Francisco to deal with his addiction by attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, whilst earning a meagre wage as a mortuary attendant. Shut off from the outside world, Frank is shocked when he makes an emotional connection with pretty saleswoman Laurel. The two strangers click on every level but as Frank begins to let his guard down for the first time in his life, he exposes himself to the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune.

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Dir: John Dahl.

Cast: Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, Luke Wilson, Dennis Farina

Country: US.

Year: 2007.

Duration: 93mins

Hitman with no bottle

Hitman: Ben Kingsley's character botches a killing because he falls into a drunken sleep

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Donnie Darko's follow-up torture

By Derek Malcolm
6 Dec 2007

John Dahl will stand up as a director of note just for Red Rock West and The Last Seduction. This comedy is a lesser work, but it's admirably determined never to become a parody.

It stars Ben Kingsley as an alcoholic hitman who botches a killing because he falls into a drunken sleep in his car and is reluctantly persuaded to join Alcoholics Anonymous.

He gets a job making corpses look good in a mortuary. Philip Baker Hall is his furious criminal uncle, Luke Wilson his gay AA sponsor and Tea Leone his tentative new girlfriend.

It's quite a cast and they all do well, never overplaying and almost persuading us this is a drama rather than a comedy.

The laughs are sly and ironic but there aren't quite enough of them, and they aren't quite black enough.

Even so, You Kill Me is consistently watchable just for the acting and direction that seems to appreciate a cast that might easily have overcooked things but never does.