You Kill Me

You Kill Me ***

Directed by John Dahl
Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely

Ben Kingsley as Frank Falenczyk
Tea Leoni as Laurel Pearson
Luke Wilson as Tom
Bill Pullman as Dave
Dennis Farina as Edward O'Leary
Philip Baker Hall as Roman Krzeminski

92 Minutes(Rated R for language and some violence.).
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"You Kill Me" is a less entertaining and less depth version of 2005's "The Matador," which had a similar plot but has better characters. Not to say that this wasn't an entertaining yarn into the world of professional killer, but it just did not hold up it's 92 minute run time as it should have, and at times it felt like I was watching a worn out sitcom than an actual comedy. Premiering at last years Tribeca Film Festival, I sadly missed the screenings there because they were all sold out, but while I enjoyed the show I felt better about spending eleven dollars as opposed to twenty-five.

Ben Kingsley is great as the lead character Frank Falenczyk. Frank is a hit man, and apparently he is one of the best, even if we never get to see him at work. The only time we do is when he botches up the assassination of Edward O'Leary. His group needs O'Leary dead to ensure that they have a part of the neighborhood, or the Irish will take over. Frank falls asleep and is told by his uncle to go to San Francisco and attend AA meetings. Frank begrudgingly does it, and only does it because he loves his work. He gets an apartment and a job working at a funeral home and is constantly being watched by Dave, a seedy real estate agent who works for the family. Frank befriends Tom, a gay recovering alcoholic who agrees to be Frank's sponsor, and then finds love Laurel, who he meets at the funeral of her step-father. Frank decides that it would be beneficial if he recovered from destroyed his addiction, while he unknowingly allows his handler and uncle back in Buffalo to be taken advantage of by O'Leary.

"You Kill Me" has a flimsy plot, which I think was my problem with it. For the first part, we never really are given the chance to get to know anything about Frank. He starts as a drunk and its inferred that he's been one since he was in his teenage years. In "The Matador" there seemed to be a clear cut crisis, and there's information about what is happening to the lead hit man. I would have also maybe liked to see a scene of Frank at work, to establish what makes him such a great killer. This is also more of a love story than a story about professional killing, and this could have really worked with any occupation. The story with O'Leary actually seemed a bit tacked out, but the entire plot is really just existing to give something for Frank and Laurel to do. There just isn't much going on here, and it really does have the makings for a short film or a television show plot line than an actual in-depth film. The acting is all above par, with Kingsley delivering splendidly and Tea Leoni with deadpan hilarity. Luke Wilson is also not given much to do, but he manages to do well in the little screen time that he has. There is no real reason for him to be gay-it's not like he's interested in the Kingsley character, and perhaps he was only gay to avoid the notion that him and Laurel could have had an affair, which would have brought the film in a whole new direction. If that wasn't it, the fact that he was gay ended up providing a total of two jokes, neither of them funny on paper, but the way they are acted made me smile a bit. Bill Pullman is fun to watch, and its nice to see him having a comeback with more darker roles. I am curious to see the reception for "Nobel Son," another one of Tribeca's offerings, when it comes out later this year or early next.

Aside from the acting there are some moments of true comedic gold. Most of them occur within the AA support group (where Kingsley makes one too many "revealing" speeches). Him and Leoni also have a certain amount of chemistry, and crossing their subtle characters during their conversations make them the more mysterious couple that I've seen on screen. "You Kill Me" is enjoyable if it is taken with a grain of salt, because that is all it is. It's a quite entertaining hit man yarn that does not cross into more constructed characters that it should have. What is wrong with Frank is a little more heavy than what is wrong with Julien in "The Matador," but the screenplay never takes advantage of that. The only real reason for him being a drunk is to get him to Laurel which is the movies focal point. But with three plot lines-drunk, killer, love story-"You Kill Me" could have been a longer and more complex tale, but instead it is this-mildly enjoyable and indie entertainment.