Slays me over its colorful amusing characters even if its story underwhelms me.
You Kill Me (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:110
Fresh:86
Rotten:24
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: Featuring wonderful performances from Ben Kingsley and Tea Leoni, You Kill Me is a charming, funny take on the familiar inner-lives-of-hit-men premise.
Theatrical Release:Jun 22, 2007 Limited
Box Office: $2,311,434
Synopsis: Cinematic hit men are dual-edged characters who can easily slip into the role of hero or villain, making them an attractive proposition for directors looking to pack an emotional punch. YOU KILL ME... Cinematic hit men are dual-edged characters who can easily slip into the role of hero or villain, making them an attractive proposition for directors looking to pack an emotional punch. YOU KILL ME stars Ben Kingsley (SEXY BEAST) as Frank Falenczyk, a hit man whose work for the Buffalo-based Mafia has been hampered by his hopeless alcoholism. Director John Dahl (THE LAST SEDUCTION) sends his lead character off to San Francisco where Alcoholics Anonymous awaits, as does Dave (Bill Pullman), who helps Frank get an apartment and a job in a mortuary. The job introduces Frank to Laurel (Téa Leoni), whom he begins a relationship with while occasionally falling off the wagon and attending AA meetings. Luke Wilson makes an appearance as a fellow alcoholic who mentors Frank through the program. YOU KILL ME is a wonderful return to form for Dahl, who has struggled to build on his early, noir-inflected career. Kingsley is as reliable as ever in the central role, and he demonstrates an impressive array of emotions as the film progresses. Credit is also due to co-screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely who deliver a tight and hugely enjoyable plot while also adding generous doses of dark humor throughout. Intelligent and fun, YOU KILL ME is likely to gain a strong word-of-mouth reputation as viewers are lured into its fold. [More]
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Téa Leoni, Luke Wilson, Dennis Farina
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Téa Leoni, Luke Wilson, Dennis Farina, Bill Pullman
Director: John Dahl
Director: John Dahl
Screenwriter: Stephen McFeely, Christopher Markus
Producer: Carol Baum, Al Corley
Studio: IFC Films
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Reviews for You Kill Me
I could watch Kingsley and Leoni for days. They're the film's true draw.
[Director] Dahl exudes such a casual control; his lightness of touch reads as a concern for good form, like knowing how to squeeze a trigger instead of pulling it.
You Kill Me feels like a lightweight throwaway, but it remains in the memory longer than expected.
Like his deliciously original Last Seduction, director John Dahl returns to the wild side in You Kill Me, an odd and somewhat puzzling crime drama that throws the viewer for a loop thanks to its deadpan humour and absurdist narrative.
A dryly funny and demented film featuring the most likable hit man you'd ever want to meet.
The kind of movie that will have a far longer shelf life than most of the largely disposable big summer blockbusters dwarfing it at the box office.
Ben Kingsley, or Sir Ben as he's called on the other side of the Atlantic, is an odd choice to play a hard-drinking Polish hit man from Buffalo, N.Y.
The deadpan tone doesn't always finesse us past the satirical plot absurdities ... but the whole is reasonably enjoyable, buoyed by another of Kingsley's scarily intense performances.
Were it not for a couple of overbroad scenes and a few flat notes of forced wackiness ... might have been one of the year's more subtle pleasures, a bittersweet snapshot akin to Jarmusch's Broken Flowers
This dark-themed and morally dubious yet weirdly lighthearted crime comedy seems to both satirize and celebrate the forgiving, nonjudgmental nature of 12-step recovery programs.
You can pinpoint the exact moment You Kill Me descends permanently into idiocy.
A grown-up movie with droll, sophisticated humor and a deliciously subversive sense. We don’t see too many of those any more.
An amusingly wry effort that's refreshing, particularly amidst all the overblown, story-deficient summer blockbusters.
Ultimately the movie stands as a testament to grownup love, the kind where all faults are exposed and dealt with, one day at a time.
One of those self-consciously quirky indie films that will strike some as comic genius while leaving the rest of the audience scratching their head.
When Frank stands up at a meeting and confesses that he wants to kick the bottle so he can devote himself more fully to killing people, "You Kill Me" achieves a perfect black-comic pitch.
Latest News for You Kill Me
October 09, 2007:
RT on DVD: 28 Weeks Later, Reign Over Me, and Surf's Up!
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June 21, 2007:
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May 12, 2007:
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