You Kill Me

Ben Kingsley has a field day in this black comedy as an alcoholic hit man who finds true love while drying out incognito in San Francisco. Kingsley plays Frank Falenczyk, a New York-based assassin who misses an important assignment when he falls into a drunken stupor. Sent packing to SF to enter Alcoholics Anonymous and find a new line of work, Frank becomes an undertaker's assistant and meets and falls for neurotic Laurel Pearson (Téa Leoni, who also produced) after her stepfather dies. Frank's AA sponsor (Luke Wilson) has his doubts about the romance's longevity, especially when Frank falls off the wagon and flies back east to finish the job he bungled. You Kill Me doesn't go for broad jokes or slapstick slight gags; instead, the laughs are relatively mild, generated by deft underplaying of slyly written lines. It's a nice change of pace for director John Dahl, who made his bones with two ‘90s neo-noir hits, The Last Seduction and Red Rock West. Kingsley, who rarely has the opportunity to play comedy (he's also a hoot in Without a Clue), is the draw here, and the other cast members—who also include Bill Pullman, Dennis Farina, and Philip Baker Hall—offer solid support. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director John Dahl and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, an 11-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, a six-minute “Before & After” visual effects comparison,” and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning comedy.] (E. Hulse)