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Is there anything Ben Kingsley can't do? Not really, and in this darkly humored film he takes over the role of a hit man with an alcohol problem. Tea' Leoni is the girl to help him and AA is the program they go with. Not the usual plot for a film. Scriptwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Marcus give us a story that goes from Buffalo, N.Y. to San Francisco and covers such occupations as hit man, tollbooth worker, snow plow driver and mortician.

As the story goes, Kingsley is a hit man for his Polish family in Buffalo, headed by Philip Baker Hall. They run a snow plow business. The opposition is an Irish mob, friends with an Asian mob, who want to take over the plowing business. The Irish leader is a swaggering Dennis Farina. Kingsley has a serious drinking problem and when snocked, botches a job. The family sends him in disgrace to San Francisco. While there, and out of desperation, he tries AA and finds something appealing. Luke Wilson becomes a friend. Kingsley gets a job working for a mortician and finds he has a knack for dressing corpses, but is a bit heavy on make-up. Tea' Leoni's stepfather is one of the corpses and Kingsley and Tea' are attracted to each other. He is trying to mend his ways while she likes life on the wild side. They find a common ground. Back in Buffalo, the Irish mob is closing in on the Polish family. Decisions have to be made about family, friends and lovers, not to mention what to say when someone asks what you do for a living. Oh, yes, and let's not forget that meddlesome real estate agent who is spying on Kingsley for his own reason.

You Kill Me has humorous moments, starting with the opening scene. Kingsley is shoveling his sidewalk by tossing a bottle of booze ahead of him and shoveling until he reaches it. I think some people use this idea with a St. Bernard and a bone. Another is when Kingsley is trying to learn the art of being a mortician. Other times are the AA meetings where people spill their innermost secrets and Ben doesn't hold back, either. Kingsley doesn't have one-liners to toss away, but his facial expressions and body language convey a great deal. He can be stern or gentle with the twitch of a cheek muscle. Tea' Leoni plays a hardened woman who knows a mystery when she sees one and she wants to understand Ben. Luke Wilson as the AA leader who works as a tollbooth operator shows suppressed astonishment when he learns what Ben's profession is. Back in snowy Buffalo, Philip Baker Hall and Dennis Farina go at it with flair and bullets. This is back street business.

You Kill Me addresses the serious problem of alcoholism. There are poignant stories told in the AA meeting and scenes of what happens to intoxicated people (accidents.) Ben drinks vodka like water and nothing is mentioned about the shape his liver is in by now. Lacquered would be a guess. The danger he puts people in when drinking is shown and this could apply to anyone to drinks excessively. AA is shown in a good light and it is a novel idea to use the premise of confession-is-good-for-the-soul when applied to a hit man. Humor comes in at just the right times and when you least expect it as shown with Tea' and her pet---a large turtle. Who knew turtles liked pineapple?

Copyright 2007 Marie Asner
Submitted 7/19/07