You Kill Me is a nearly brilliant comedy. Surprising honesty and acceptance is the catalyst for humor in this off kilter comedy about an alcoholic hit man banished to San Francisco.
Hit man Frank Falenczyk (Ben Kingsley) is ordered out of the state, Buffalo, NY to be exact, by his mob boss employer, Roman Krzeminski (Philip Baker Hall) when his drinking makes him screw up an important hit. Sent to San Francisco to attend AA, keep a job in a funeral home and only allowed to return when he has made sufficient steps in recovery. Tom (Luke Wilson), the good natured toll taker becomes his sponsor, guiding him through alcoholics anonymous, sober life, and dating. Uptight professional Laurel Pearson (Tea Leoni) finds something enchanting about him. Just to make sure he is on track with his recovery Roman sends a crazy and quirky accountant, Dave (Bill Pullman) to keep an eye on him. While Frank is away, his criminal family starts to go downhill.
Sure, the drinking is funny, but the sobriety is even funnier. The alcoholics anonymous scenes are the best. Frank is so honest; you don’t know what to think. If you have ever been to an AA meeting, some of the stories are riveting, most drone on much longer than a human attention span, with the occasional straight up snore fest. Frank says stuff so stunning everyone is awake, with their mouths open, unable to speak. The entire group sits in stunned wonder, not even able to squeak out a single word!
I will say it is disappointing to see another movie “in San Francisco.” The toll booth scenes are so obviously not shot looking at the Golden Gate Bridge. They didn’t spend enough money to make one of the most recognizable land marks in the world look believable. The director makes almost a fetishist point of street signs. Sure, the geography is all wrong, and it wouldn’t bother me so much if he didn’t practically draw red circles around the street signs. I get it, San Francisco is an expensive place to shoot a movie, but at least film the bridge and read a map! If you aren’t familiar with San Francisco, this probably won’t even bother you.
Ben Kingsley is a perfect ice cold hit man with personal problems. He is stone faced through most of the movie. It is Kingsley’s voice that gives the character’s emotions distinction. He kind of wrings his hands with the treble of this voice and the patterns of his speech. His interactions with the funeral home owner, Brenda (Lorraine James) are classic.
Luke Wilson, who plays Frank’s sponsor, is the biggest surprise in the movie. He lets go of previous roles and steps into a more subtle character. Wilson not only does funny but he does subdued too!
I was fond of Bill Pullman in this movie. He kind of plays both the devil and the angel on Frank’s shoulder. I don’t think even Dave knows if he is good or bad.
If the film maker and writers of a movie were to draw a line in the sand dictating the border between humorous harmony and monstrous madness, Tea Leoni would jump back and forth between them. So often in You Kill Me Leoni makes you laugh. Just as often, though, she makes you want to ring her neck. The most frustrating thing about it is that it is almost fantastic when she botches a scene. It is like the man who dies just before the finish line at a marathon.
Dennis Farina, who plays rival mob boss Edward O’Leary, is dead to me.
You Kill Me is the most original premise for a movie I have seen in years. It answers a lot of the questions I personally toil with when it comes to hit men. Oh yeah, it is pretty damn funny!