★ 6 / 10
The first of John Dahl's neo-noir forrays. Kill
John Chard
The first of John Dahl's neo-noir forrays. Kill Me Again is directed by John Dahl and Dahl co-writes the screenplay with David W. Warfield. It stars Val…
The first of John Dahl's neo-noir forrays.
Kill Me Again is directed by John Dahl and Dahl co-writes the screenplay with David W. Warfield. It stars Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Michael Madsen, Pat Mulligan and Nick Dimitri. Music is by William Olvis and cinematography by Jacques Steyn.
Detective Jack Andrews (Kilmer) becomes involved with a beautiful woman on the run from the mob and her psychopath boyfriend.
John Dahl loves film noir, we know that now after all these years. He would direct the superb Red Rock West and The Last Seduction, two bona fide greats from the neo-noir splinter of film making. Kill Me Again (classic film noir title right there) is his fist directorial feature film venture, it is like a lot of debuts from directors who have a kink for a certain genre or style of film making, in that it only hints at better things to come.
Unfortunately, in spite of being solid enough within the noir parameters, it's all a bit too derivative for its own good. Standard noir tropes are adhered to, male protag led into the murk by a femme fatale, a bruising psycho, some twists and turns, and some stylistics via camera and photographic lenses. Plot relies on the salty machinations of Whalley's femme for its intrigue, and for the most part her character is the dominating factor, but later on the film sort of bypasses her character and it begins to sag as Kilmer's weary P.I. plods onwards.
Fans of the actors do have interest value (though Kilmer is a little miscast and a world away from great neo-noir films he would later do; Heat, The Salton Sea, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), but really the performances are neither good or bad - though Madsen holds court every scene he is in. Although the screenplay and script are merely serviceable as pot boilers, there's just enough here to keep you watching till the culmination of proceedings.
Fans of noir can grab enough from the pic to warrant time investment, but it doesn't linger long afterwards. While casual film fans are warned to use this only as a time filling exercise. 6/10
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★ 8 / 10
Enjoyable little neo-noir - worth watching until the last ten minutes
The_Void
Even to this day, it's regrettable that the film noir tradition had to die out at the end of the fifties; but all is not quite lost, as since the release of…
Even to this day, it's regrettable that the film noir tradition had to die out at the end of the fifties; but all is not quite lost, as since the release of Chinatown in 1974, there has been a steady stream of 'neo-noir' thrillers being released, and while generally not as good as their ancestral counterparts; they usually make for decent films. Kill Me Again is one such thriller; that, while suffering from a number of problems, does a good job in reminding us film fans of the classics from the forties and fifties by creating a good noir atmosphere, which is fused with a typical noir plot line. The film that it takes the most influence from definitely seems to be Billy Wilder's classic "Double Indemnity", as it follows themes of a man being dragged into a plot by a woman and death for profit. The plot follows a woman who escapes her jealous boyfriend after the pair steals over eight hundred grand from some mobsters. He isn't too pleased about her taking his cash, however, and despite her efforts of hiding by hiring a private detective to fake her death; jealous boyfriend remains on her tail.
The film starts off well - the plot is set up nicely, and hints at a thrilling ride to come. The middle, too, is well done and remains thrilling while taking in the familiar noir elements. It's the ending that really, really lets the film down, however. The ending is probably the most important part for any film - as it is this that is going to stay in the audience's mind after the credits role; but the filmmakers here haven't realised that. The twist is one the most clear cut cases of having a twist in the film just for the sake of having one. It makes absolutely no sense given what has gone before, and this is matched by the abrupt ending that follows straight after. And then, just so it gets a little bit worse; we get 'treated' to a sappy final conclusion. To it's credit, the cast does well; with Val Kilmer taking the starring role. I'm not a massive fan of this guy, but he usually performs well, and he looks the part here. He is joined by his then-wife, Joanne Whalley and the always excellent Michael Madsen tops off the central trio. It's always great to see Madsen in films, and the role here is an obvious prelude to his career making performance in Reservoir Dogs. Overall, this isn't an essential film - but it's good up until the ending, and I enjoyed it so it gets a thumbs up on the whole.
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John Dahl's Neo-Noir Trilogy