''You Kill Me'' is 2007

crime comedy Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

film directed by

John Dahl John Dahl (born December 11, 1956) is an American film director, film and television director and screenwriter, writer, best known for his work in the neo-noir genre. Life and career John Dahl was born in Billings, Montana, the second of four c ...

and starring

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two ...

Téa Leoni Téa Leoni (; born Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni; February 25, 1966) is an American actress. In her early career, she starred in the television sitcoms '' Flying Blind'' (1992–93) and ''The Naked Truth'' (1995–98). Her breakthrough role was in t ...

Luke Wilson Luke Cunningham Wilson (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor known for his roles in films such as '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), ''My Dog Skip'' (2000), ''Legally Blonde'' (2001), ''The Royal Tenenbaums'' (2001), ''Id ...

, and

Dennis Farina Donaldo Gugliermo "Dennis" Farina (February 29, 1944 – July 22, 2013) was an American actor. Often typecast as a mobster or police officer, he is known for roles such as FBI Agent Jack Crawford in '' Manhunter'', mobster Jimmy Serrano in the ...

Plot

Frank Falenczyk is a

hit man Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may ...

for his Polish mob family in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. He has a

drinking problem Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

, and when he messes up a critical assignment that puts the family business in peril, his uncle Roman Krzeminski, head of the family, sends him to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

to clean up his act. Falenczyk is forced to accept a job at a mortuary, and go to

Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...

meetings, where he confesses his job, explaining that he wants to be free of his drinking problem because it's affecting his ability to kill effectively. He falls in love with Laurel Pearson, a quirky client he meets at the funeral home. Meanwhile, an upstart Irish gang threatens the family snow-plowing business. When violence erupts, Frank returns home to face the rivals. With assistance from Laurel, he manages to suppress the Irish gang.

Cast

as Frank Falenczyk *

as Laurel Pearson *

as Tom *

as Edward O'Leary * Philip Baker Hall as Roman Krzeminski *

Bill Pullman William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. He made his film debut in ''R ...

as Dave * Marcus Thomas as Stef Krzeminski *

Jayne Eastwood Jayne Eastwood (born December 17, 1946), also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress and comedian. She is best known for her film roles as Anna-Marie Biddlecoff in the comedy film ''Finders Keepers'' (1984), Judy the Wai ...

as Kathleen Fitzgerald

Reception

The film was well received by critics, and maintains a 78% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. The consensus reads, "Featuring wonderful performances from Ben Kingsley and Tea Leoni, ''You Kill Me'' is a charming, funny take on the familiar inner-lives-of-hit-men premise."

References

External links

* * * * * {{Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely 2007 films 2000s crime comedy films American crime comedy films 2000s English-language films Films about alcoholism Films about the Irish Mob Films directed by John Dahl Films scored by Marcelo Zarvos Films set in New York (state) Films set in San Francisco Films shot in Winnipeg Films with screenplays by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely Mafia comedy films 2007 comedy films 2000s American films