You Kill Me - Review

A lot of talented actors come together in the gangster comedy You Kill Me, but they're so underused it's, well, criminal. Even the incomparable Ben Kingsley, who stars as Frank Falenczyk, an alcoholic hit man for Buffalo's Polish mob sent by his angry boss (Philip Baker Hall) to dry out in San Francisco, never seems quite sure how to play his quirky role. On the other hand, maybe it's just the part itself, as written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, which feels inconsistent and unsatisfying. It's another case of plopping an audience into someone's very screwed up life without much explanation as to how he got there. In a post-Tony Soprano world, we're used to our gangsters having more specific psychological underpinnings than the what-you-see-is-what-you-get Frank. Though, in many ways, Frank is more down to earth than most parts Kingsley usually plays, the 60-ish actor may just be too mature--and too innately wise--to be fully convincing; it's a sympathetic performance, but he's ultimately miscast.

Better cast, but even less dimensional, is co-star Tea Leoni as Laurel, an attractive woman Frank meets at the funeral home where he works as part of his rehab. Aside from implications that her just-departed stepfather was a prick and that she suffers from "boundary issues" (whatever they are) we have no idea what makes this mouthy chick tick. For an actress of Leoni's stature and ability, it's a real nothing part. In addition, the romance that develops between Laurel and Frank might be logical (i.e., two adrift people brought together by happenstance), but it's not particularly believable. The considerable age difference between the two doesn't help either.

Then there's the ubiquitous Luke Wilson, who plays Frank's laid-back AA sponsor Tom, a smallish role that's more of a placeholder than a fully realized character. Like Laurel, Tom is all present and no past. He's gay, but for no apparent reason (other than maybe because we're in San Francisco where it's still perceived every guy is gay), and a Golden Gate Bridge toll collector--and that's it. Given how often Frank falls off the wagon, Tom doesn't seem like a very effective sponsor either.

Other fine acting folks zip in and out of the picture, like Bill Pullman (what happened to his career?), in a thankless part as a sleazy Realtor hired to keep an eye on Frank while he's holed up in the Bay Area. Dennis Farina does the slick hoodlum bit as the head of Buffalo's competing Irish mob, while the appealing Marcus Thomas (who's been seen in indies like Edmond and Bigger Than the Sky) has a hangdog sweetness as Frank's cousin and co-gangster Stef. You can't fault the cast here, just the thin material they're given to inhabit.

At the helm of this tepid stew is John Dahl, a talented, versatile director, who's never quite repeated the promise of his first two films, the acclaimed thrillers Red Rock West and The Last Seduction. He's closer here to the dark, offbeat territory mined in those movies than in subsequent studio duds like Unforgettable, Joy Ride, and The Great Raid (Rounders, arguably his most enjoyable film, fell somewhere in the middle). Dahl, greatly assisted by the eye-catching work of vet cinematographer Jeffrey Jur, has crafted a stylish-looking piece but, unfortunately, can't keep up the movie's initial spirited pace. Halfway through, it turns poky and dull (and forget about the comedy, that's long gone), re-energized only by a final, perfunctory shootout. Dahl also spends way too much time on the AA elements of the story, which, while emotionally resonant, give the film a more pedestrian feel than could've possibly been anyone's goal.