Kill Me Again

Film noir is one of the oldest and most worked of all the Hollywood genres. Starting as early as 1941 with John Huston's The Maltese Falcon. Other greats include Orson Welles's Touch of Evil and Hitchcock's Notorious. With such a great variety of so-called "classic" noires to see, why would one want to take the time and money to watch an independent film noir by a then unknown director/writer. Simple: the director/writer is John Dahl, and this is no ordinary film noir. In fact, his movies (this was the first of them all) are so well received that critics credit him with starting a new genre called neo-noir.

It starts out like any other noir. Fay Forrester (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer), the femme fatal, and her boyfriend (Michael Madsen) are some small time criminals who rob the mod. They steal a briefcase full of money and kill one of the mod members. Then, Fay, who longs to escape country life and move to Las Vegas hits her husband on the head with a rock, takes all the money for herself, and runs to Vegas. Once she gets to Vegas, she hires Jack Andrews (Val Kilmer) to make it look like she was murdered, offering him, "$5000 up front and $5000 when I'm dead." Jack, reluctantly takes the job. However, once the job is done, Fay skips out of town without paying Jack the final $5000, and to make matters worse, Fay's boyfriend is in town at Jack's office looking for Fay. Now this is where it gets really interesting because everyone is looking to kill everyone else for revenge. It is just a question of who will succeed. The last half of the movie is filled with plot twists and unexpected actions. This, and especially the end, is where this film deviates from what is usually called film noir. This is not to say that the twists are unmotivated or out of character. They very much are. It is just the types of twists and the number of them are uncommon for films preceding this time. The ending is unexpected and pleasurable. But I won't ruin it for you here.

One thing that is particularly true for this movie is the consistency found in each of the main characters. There is no scene that feels out of place within the context of the picture. Also, I have to give a thumbs up to the under-appreciated performance by Michael Madsen. He does one heck of a job as the psycho boyfriend. Another thing that must be mentioned is the great choices for the camera angles by John Dahl. This makes the movie better than it is or should be. He places the camera in places so that you feel either closer or farther from the action, depending upon what sense he is trying to convey to the viewer. He really makes the tension tenser, and the action faster. The audience always gets enough, but never too much. This is just an outstanding example of film directing. The only other directors that have this uncanny ability are Welles, Hitchcock, Kubrick, Tarantino, and Scorsese. In my opinion, this film (which is from 1989) is a major influence on Tarantino and his works. You can clearly see the similarities between their choice of camera angles and what the audience gets to see; however, Tarantino is more graphic face.

While this movie is far from perfect, it is quite good and deserves any true noir fan's time and attention. If you like noires, and in particular, this film, then go check out Dahl's other two good neo-noires: Redrock West and The Last Seduction. I give this film an 8/10.

Two crooks (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer and Michael Madsen) kill a man and steal a briefcase full of money. Then Whalley-Kilmer knocks Madsen out and runs off to Las Vegas with all of it. When there she hires a private investigator (Val Kilmer) to fake her death to get Madsen off her trail. Naturally everything goes wrong.

Laid back film noir. It's well done with an intricate plot and plenty of double crosses. It's beautifully shot too. Still I wasn't too crazy about it. The movie is just TOO laid back. Everything unfolds in such a quiet easy-going way that it lacks the tension that a really good noir gives you. It's not the fault of the cast. Kilmer is good and his then wife Whalley-Kilmer is excellent but the direction and editing is done in such a leisurely fashion that it mutes their acting. Even the violence is done in a casual laid-back way! It's not a total disaster and is worth catching but I couldn't stop thinking of how really good this could have been. A 7.

John Dahl has mastered this genre almost effortlessly. "Kill Me Again" shows him in great form. The screen play by the director and David Warfield has all the makings of a film noir, which Mr. Dahl's executes beautifully.

The great coup for the director is the first rate performances he gets out of his cast. Val Kilmer, plays Jack Andrews, a Reno P.I., fighting some demons of his own. Andrews falls for the vixen Fay Forrester who comes knocking at his office door seeking to solve her problems, but instead, she uses Jack shamelessly.

Fay Forrester, the calculating dame of the story, has in turn double crossed her own partner Vince Miller, who doesn't give up trying to find what belongs to him. Jack Andrews in the end, proves he is more resourceful than Vince and Fay in an ironic twist at the end.

Val Kilmer had one of the best opportunities of his career and he runs away with the movie. Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, is excellent as the calculating Fay. Michael Madsen portrays yet another bad guy with great verve.

Mr. Dahl delivers a satisfying film that will not disappoint.

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.

What a sexy woman Joanne Whalley is. I can see why Kilmer grabbed her & married her. In this she's the antecedent of the Linda Fiorentino character in Last Seduction, another wondrously sexy wench. John Dahl has a unique & powerful knack for choosing strong actresses & bringing out the universal vixen in them.

The plot's nothing terribly original but it plays its familiar theme with some nice changes & variations. It has that classic quality that the best "noir" films had: it moves right along & keeps you in the center of the action.

One thing I find curious is that no one (to my knowledge) has ever linked the Michael Madsen throat-cutting scene in this film with the Michael Madsen ear-cutting scene in Reservoir Dogs. Give credit where it's due!