Kill for Me

What a terrific small budget indie thriller. It starts off slow and you wonder where it is going. Then it just grips and drags you into this finale that blows you away. Gritty acting. The sets are so grimy you feel you can touch them. And yet the camera work is so beautiful at times. The cast, including Dylan Baker, puts in a good performance and the director sure knows what he's doing. If you like film noir or neo noir, this little gem is definitely a must watch.

The acting was sufficient. The basic plot was: Charlie gets out of prison after 20 years, all the while never having seen his wife and young son. On last day in prison Charlie steps in to help out a new corrections officer at the prison, and subdues an inmate. The inmate promises Charlie that his son is going to pay. Charlie spends most of the movie desperately trying to track down his son to warn him.

The entire movie hinges on one sequence of events. I played and replayed that sequence of events at least a half dozen times. I do not know if it was the editing, or the photography, or the script; but after this scene my question was "what the hell just happened?" It's not that the audience doesn't realize what's happened; it's that the sequence was filmed so poorly, or edited so poorly, or maybe even written so poorly that it just does not make sense.

That was the fundamental and fatal flaw in the movie. If that one climatic scene had made any sense at all, the movie would be a 7 instead of a 3. But to flub a scene, badly, and that scene being the pivotal scene of the move....was unforgivable.

Pacing: agree with others. The pace can drop out but hang in there; It picks back up.

Plot: no spoilers. I just suggest...follow along and let the characters tell the tale. You're rooting for everything to work out. Age old story: prisoner, wants to reconnect with lost family, has demons to fight, little help (because he's a ex-con) but little glimpses of hope to keep you rooting for him. What seems like unneeded side characters add to where story is going but also, makes you scratch your head a little. Be patient.

Acting: for the most part, well acted. Some of the lines are a little forced. Even repetitive. This goes back to pacing. But the actors pulled it off. Just let the campy parts be campy.

Last notes: I loved the story and the plot twist. I hated the way it wrapped up. But I like tight endings. You may not feel the same. All this to say, it's not time wasted seeing this movie.

Strong acting and interesting story. Starts out as typical prison film and then moves on to a really twisted revenge story. I was watching the movie with several others and each guessed a different and wrong ending as we watched.

Not a perfect movie but well acted and strong story line. Not for kids as there as some harsh scenes but I think adults would enjoy the watch.

I've been following the work of the director Tim Mccann for quite a while. He won at Toronto with his first ever film called Desolation Angels and was considered one of the best directors to come from NY that year. He never however got into the big time and continued to make these hard core indie movies (see All Mistakes Buried, which is a real gem). With No Beast so Fierce he's made another one that is well worth watching. A story about an ex-con who just left prison to look for his son, the characters, the dialogue, the acting, the locations: everything is spot on realistic. There's no need for huge action set pieces, no explosives, but the story tenses you up and the tension keeps piling on and piling on until you get to a terrific twist at the end. Well worth it.