Kiss or Kill

This is probably one of my favorite movies.I first saw Kiss or Kill when it first came out in 1997.It is not your run of the mill road movie it is more complex.There is a sense of paranoia between the lead characters throughout which adds to the mystery of the whole movie.I highly recommend this movie and I hope it comes out on DVD soon.9 out of 10****

(1997) Kiss Or Kill CRIME THRILLER

Unconventional 'on the run' movie, co-produced, written and directed by Bill Bennett starring Frances O'Connor as Nikki, who as a child, is now scarred for life, since when she was a child she used to witness her mom burn to death as a result of some guy splashing gasoline on her before lighting her on fire. Then the actual story starts, is when Nikki allows a cheating husband to seduce her, so that she can drug him before robbing him blind, with her boyfriend, Al Fletcher(Matt Day) aiding her. What happens next is that the businessman accidentally dies, and as a result of also stealing the contents of this guys briefcase, they then come across an incriminating video tape of a well known celebrity, by the name of Zipper Doyle (Barry Langrishe) exploiting a young child. And instead of using it for blackmail, the young couple decide to go 'on the run' by driving away, and seeking to exchange other vehicles, while both the police and Zipper Doyle are going after them. At first, it appears to look like a young "Bonnie & Clyde", "Sugarland Express" and "Badlands" movie, but as the movie is progressing, not everything is what it appears to be as they're on the run. And although, it's unconventional, it'd have to take much of the first half of the entire film to the revelation to it being memorable. Perhaps if I had not seen those other 'on the run' films would've made a stronger impact than if was made later. Winner of 5 Australian Awards out of 11 nominations.

If Frances O'Connor and Matt Day don't get regular, steady acting work and eventually become big stars, I'll be very surprised. Despite all the other good things about "Kiss Or Kill", the two of them hold the movie together. O'Connor is sexy and tough, and Day is a solid leading man. The rest of the cast does a good job, especially the cops. The plot is a little loose, but it kind of makes you guess as to what's going on. In the end, this is a must see. Go rent it right away!!!

The attention-grabbing beginning of this movie finds two scam artists, having accidentally killed a victim, stumbling on the possibility of blackmailing a football star, and setting in motion a quirky road movie with hints of black humour.

I have to say, this sketchy synopsis recalls the type of plotline the Coen brothers might use. This is slightly misleading - the film is darker, less gimmicky and ultimately less fun than standard Coen brothers fare - but nonetheless the film does share several of the brothers' failings - noticeably an inability to create a consistent tone or convincing psychologies for the lead characters. We know the most important character suffered severe trauma as a child, yet we learn little about her other than that, and her boyfriend seems an even bigger mystery.

Also, to illustrate the problems the film has with tone, the film has noirish themes, but has incongruously bright sunny photography. It also contains one brilliantly funny sequence, in which a cop finds he knows his partner less well than he thought, but frankly this scene looks like it comes from another movie.

However, the film is always watchable. It does look attractive, even if its main stylistic tic - continual jump cuts, presumably in homage to Godard - does jar after a while. Moreover, a brash, confident central performance from Frances O'Connor definitely holds the attention, and I did feel that I cared for her basically hard-to-like character.

Although the film is only a partial success, it still looks like the type of film that could develop a cult following.

This is a sort of modern day film noir directed by Bill Bennett and stars Matt Day and Frances O'Connor. Day and O'Connor play a young couple in Austrila who are a couple of con artists and they mostly scam married men who pick up O'Connor in a bar. Things are going good until someone actually dies and they wind up with a videotape, on that videotape is a celebrity named Zipper Doyle, who is a football star, and he's having sex with a young boy. Day and O'Connor go on the run with both the police looking for them and Doyle trying to kill them. There are several more deaths but you don't see who murders who and Day and O'Connor get to the point where they can't trust each other. It's a pretty good movie that was a huge hit in Austrilia.