Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Blistering performances.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

While drying out on the West Coast and working as a mortician, an alcoholic hit man (Ben Kingsley) befriends a tart-tongued woman (Tea Leoni) who might just come in handy when it is time for him to return to Buffalo and settle some old scores.Leoni plays a good supporting role, but Kingsley is the guy running the show here. He is such a great actor, it is a shame he seems to be ending up in more and more smaller films (e.g. "The Wackness"). He is a great hit-man, great alcoholic, and the mortician scenes are priceless.Bill Pullman is good as Dave the real estate agent. His role is small, but he has the best line of the film, spouting the wisdom that "in a town with a 2% vacancy rate, the real estate agent is God." Luke Wilson also appears and seems to be wasted in his supporting role. This does nothing to showcase his talents and could have been filled by another actor for half the price. (This is not a knock on Wilson, but on whoever cast him -- give the man room to work.)

Warmhearted AND black ? Does that fit together ? In this special case, yes. I've watched You Kill Me three times over the last two years, and I was always pleasured. The idea of a hit-man with a serious alcohol problem is a wonderful solo for Ben Kingsley. Despite or because of his age (he is born 1943) he is very believable and shows some very fragile aspects of his character. The dry, black, likable humor is, despite always present, a minor matter. What matters is, how someone needs and tries to escape his addiction, and how someone finds his love for being alive.The movie has a silent, sometimes slow pacing, with very good music, the jokes are not loud or direct, and there are only a few short action scenes. But it never becomes boring, except the audience expects a different genre. Maybe a name like Jim Jarmush as director would have brought more attention to the movie, as there is a similar sense of humor and weirdness in his works.Sadly, there are a few glitches in the script, where the authors seemingly didn't really know what to do, as f.i. with Laurel's character. How did she manage becoming so dry and lonesome ? She is defined only with a few words about her business which seems to be not so important to her, though she is very successful. She heard many lies from men, and that's all ? Tea Leoni has not many opportunities to shine, but she has a strong presence and gets the best out of her character, which is not easy in a movie created around Ben Kingsley.The ending is also a bit uninspired, although it is consequent.Ben Kingsley has a very diversified filmography since his first success with Ghandi (1982). Sometimes he seems not very selective, as with Blood Rayne. In many movies he is a big supporting actor who saves the project with his bare presence, like Sean Connery did. With You Kill Me he has got his own little movie and everyone can see how good he feels with it (and the other actors, too). And I think this feeling is transmitted to the audience.What I'm really sorry about is that the movie started only in 35 cinemas US-wide, according to box office mojo. The Alcohol addiction theme may be a serious problem for many but it is not taken too easy in this fairy tale. Since movies aren't those big film-rolls anymore but small DVD's, reproduction costs shouldn't be an issue, so, there only remains the distributor's fear of failure. At least I would TRY and not already give up before starting.

You Kill Me stars Ben Kingsley as Frank Falenczyk, a hit man whose work for the Buffalo-based Mafia has been hampered by his hopeless alcoholism. He goes off to San Francisco where Alcoholics Anonymous awaits, as does Dave (Bill Pullman), who helps Frank get an apartment and a job in a mortuary. The job introduces Frank to Laurel (Téa Leoni), whom he begins a relationship with while occasionally falling off the wagon and attending AA meetings. Luke Wilson makes an appearance as a fellow alcoholic who mentors Frank through the program. You Kill Me is a smart and charming black comedy but there's really no reason to watch it other then the wonderful performance by Ben Kingsley. The script is not very strong and even thought the film has a few funny moments here and there, overall it's not nearly as funny as it should be. Plus, it has been done before. The film lacks originality. Sure it's entertaining and enjoyable but it's one of those films that you can very well miss. In conclusion, a decent watch mainly because of Ben Kingsley.6/10

During the first minutes of You Kill Me,I thought I was going to see something like a semi-sequel of the very competent Sexy Beast,because that movie also shows Ben Kingsley in the character of a violent gangster who has to spend some time out of his environment,interacting with "normal" people who result to be more strange than the criminals he deals with.However,the similarities end there,because although it offers solid performances and some good moments of black humor,You Kill Me is very far away to getting the quirky tone and wild humor from Sexy Beast.You Kill Me is an entertaining film but it does not stand out too much.I usually like black humor comedies because their cruelty and cynicism make the laughs more "tasty"...at least when the screenwriter knows how to balance those elements.You Kill Me tries that but,although it has some good moments,You Kill Me never gets particularly funny,and that's its biggest fail.I did not laugh once,although I occasionally smiled because of the surrealism of the situations and the bizarre attitudes from the characters.The performances are the best element from this movie,at least by my point of view.Kingsley brings a credible and detailed performance.Téa Leoni is entertaining on her character.Luke Wilson is not as good as Kingsley and Leoni but he still brings a good performance.I also liked the short appearances from Dennis Farina and Philip Baker Hall as "old school" mafia bosses.John Dahl (who has directed episodes to my favorite TV programmes,which are Dexter,Californication and Battlestar Galactica)'s direction is sober but solid.The conclusion from this movie is adequate but,having said that,I have something to point out...another scene in airport in which someone wants to stop the lover before getting into the plane ? Did screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely really think that cliché keeps being romantic ?.In spite of my complains,I had a good time watching You Kill Me although I found it completely forgettable.With some many serial killers comedies (as examples,I can mention the sympathetic The Whole Nine Yards or the hollow but very pleasant The Big Hit),this film needed much more humor,intelligence and energy to really stand out.In summary,You Kill Me is an entertaining and sympathetic movie,but there is nothing special on it to make it memorable.