With his one-two noir punch of 1994, consisting of the fantastic Red Rock West and equally serpentine and deliciously entertaining The Last Seduction,
director John Dahl made a convincing play for genre all-star honors. He
showed deftness with labyrinthine plot, a great touch with actors and
an ability to milk both menace and dark comedy out of the same scene.
Dahl’s career since those days, though, has been one of a seemingly
stalled engine. A quick studio gig re-teaming with Linda Fiorentino, Unforgettable, proved anything but so. The extremely underrated Rounders starred Edward Norton and Matt Damon, but released in 1998, just a couple years ahead of the full-fledged
poker renaissance; it grossed $22 million, which is probably about what
it would cost to get those two actors back together today. The modestly
budgeted and effectively taut Joyride, putting a slightly modern spin on Steven Spielberg’s classic Duel, rung up $36 million worldwide, Dahl’s biggest hit, but still didn’t break out commercially like many thought it could.
Then there’s the matter of 2005’s The Great Raid,
Dahl’s World War II rescue flick, based on a true story. Budgeted at a
reported $80 million, it was a total commercial washout, grossing only
$10.5 million worldwide.

The somewhat liltingly melancholic hit man character piece You Kill Me, then, represents a return-to-roots of sorts for Dahl — a characteristically small story
with mixed tonalities, about the sparks flying between headstrong
and/or wounded characters. It’s also the director’s first real foray
into comedy. Unfortunately, despite the slight novelty of some of its
performances, the movie never rises above anything more than the sum of
its fractured parts, and it lacks a strong enough narrative spine to
break out much further beyond arthouse devotees.

As an alcoholic Polish mob family killer, Ben Kingsley rolls together traits and trace character elements of several of his previous gangster incarnations (Lucky Number Slevin, Sexy Beast, Bugsy) and puts a sad-sack spin on them.
It’s a strange mixture — sometimes compelling, but also a little vague. For someone experiencing a supposed awakening of the mind or spirit, Kingsley remains surprisingly sedate and down-tempo. Téa Leoni, meanwhile, plays a tart-tongued saleswoman, with her own damaged past, who becomes the object of Kingsley’s character’s affection. For the full review, from FilmStew, click here.