You Kill Me

Plot

While drying out on the West Coast, an alcoholic hit man befriends a tart-tongued woman who might just come in handy when it's time for him to return to Buffalo and settle some old scores.

Release Year: 2007

Rating: 6.6/10 (11,241 voted)

Critic's Score: 64/100

Director:
John Dahl

Stars: Ben Kingsley, Téa Leoni, Luke Wilson

Storyline
Frank Falenczyk loves his job. He just happens to be the hit-man for his Polish mob family in Buffalo, New York. But Frank's got a drinking problem and when he messes up a critical assignment that puts the family business in peril, his uncle sends him to San Francisco to clean up his act. Frank is not a touchy-feely kind of guy, but he starts going to AA meetings, gets a sponsor and a job at a mortuary where he falls for the tart-tongued Laurel, a woman who is dangerously devoid of boundaries. Meanwhile, things aren't going well in Buffalo where an upstart Irish gang is threatening the family business. When violence erupts, Frank is forced to return home and with an unlikely assist from Laurel, faces old rivals on new terms.

Writers: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

Cast:

Ben Kingsley
–

Frank Falenczyk

Téa Leoni
–

Laurel Pearson

Luke Wilson
–

Tom

Dennis Farina
–

Edward O'Leary

Philip Baker Hall
–

Roman Krzeminski

Bill Pullman
–

Dave

Marcus Thomas
–

Stef Krzeminski

Scott Heindl
–

James Doyle

Alison Sealy-Smith
–

Doris Rainford

(as Allison Sealy-Smith)

Aron Tager
–

Walter Fitzgerald

Jayne Eastwood
–

Kathleen Fitzgerald

Al Corley
–

Man in Park

Erik Fjeldsted
–

Kevin

Aaron Hughes
–

Stanley

Devin McCracken
–

Henry

Taglines:
Love is always worth another shot

Details

Official Website:
Official site |

Release Date: 6 July 2007

Filming Locations: Manitoba Production Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Box Office Details

Budget: $4,000,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: $233,709
(USA)
(24 June 2007)
(35 Screens)

Gross: $2,426,851
(USA)
(19 August 2007)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

Shot in 26 days.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes:
When Frank and Laurel first meet in the mortuary, in one shot you can clearly see the dead body's stomach move up and down as he's breathing.

Quotes:

Stef:
Look, I know you think you know Frank pretty well, but there's probably a few things you're not gonna wanna hear.

Laurel Pearson:
Like that he came back to Buffalo to kill Edward O'Leary so he could stop him and the rest of the Irish from getting into bed with some Chinese sugar daddy and wiping your family off the map? Oh, and he's a really big drunk.

Stef:
[pauses]
Wow. He's really opening up.

User Review

Dark Comedy Showcases Leoni's Talents

Rating: 8/10


"You Kill Me" is as dark a comedy as you can get. It may also be the
first artistically successful romantic comedy noir. Directed by John
Dahl (best known for his indie-noirs "Red Rock West" and "The Last
Seduction" and the underrated killer trucker flick "Joyride"), the film
depicts a hit man (Ben Kingsley-deep in character) forced into
Alcoholics Anonymous by his "family" because his drinking has been
affecting his ability to kill people. Shipped off to San Franscisco to
start his 12 Steps, he picks up a part-time gig at a funeral home and
meets a sassy single woman with "boundary issues" (Tea Leoni-hilarious)
after her step-dad dies and proceeds to start an unconventional romance
with her while struggling to stay on the wagon and learn how to kill
again.

The film starts off very low key, and Dahl keeps such a consistently
dark tone it's hard to adjust to the cadence. As good as Kingsley is
here, the show really belongs to Leoni. When she finally arrives on the
scene, the film reaches a level of hilarity you weren't expecting. Her
facial expressions, comic timing, and interplay with Kingsley as she
learns the truth about his past are pure gold. Leoni has had her fair
share of commercial successes ("Bad Boys," "Deep Impact," "The Family
Man", and "Jurassic Park III") but it's in this type of offbeat
low-budget comedy where she really shines. She was dynamite in
"Flirting with Disaster" and was the best foil for Woody Allen since
Diane Keaton in the otherwise forgettable "Hollywood Ending." Here all
her comic charms are on display, and she proves that at the age of 40,
she is aging not only gracefully and naturally, but with all her
sexiness and innate talents in tact.

While the film goes through the predictable motions in its final act,
it's the gooey goodness of the middle portion (especially one
laugh-out-loud montage of Leoni helping Kingsley train for his return
to "work") that will leave a smile on your face, with Leoni's
luminosity as a comedic actress scorched into your mind.