You Kill Me (R, 2007)

After messing up on a mob-related killing, alcoholic hit man Frank Falenczyk (Ben Kingsley) is sent to San Francisco to dry out. Set up with Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and a day job at a funeral home, Frank grumps his way through his recovery until he meets Laurel (Téa Leoni). Trading sardonic observations as he cleans up her stepfather's corpse, they find they share a certain wry pessimism and begin dating. When he brings her along to an AA meeting and confesses his profession, Laurel is briefly startled, as are Frank's sponsor, Tom (Luke Wilson), and the other attendees. But the group is supportive and decides to uphold AA's pledge of anonymity. Frank wonders about his place in the world. He's always considered himself a stoic man, good at what he does and not given to thinking about it, but he begins to believe he has options. But a lowlife named Dave (Bill Pullman), who's assigned to keep his eye on Frank's progress, tries to pull him back into the criminal life.

You Kill Me slips in and out of generic expectations -- part romantic comedy, part mob thriller. Frank begins seeing that the way he and the guys do business isn't as effective as it used to be. When an associate observes, "It's like we don't exist anymore," Frank confirms with certainty: "We don't." It's no surprise when he eventually makes a right choice; despite the bloody violence of several scenes, the film's tone is sharply comic and optimistic. But Kingsley, at once intimidating and empathetic, is always a revelation.

Studio: IFC Entertainment
Director: John Dahl
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Bill Pullman, Tea Leoni
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 92 minutes
Theatrical release: June 22, 2007
DVD release: October 9, 2007
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: language and some violence.