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A real treat!

Author: syfer from San Francisco, California
13 December 2004

Although one person I was with at the pre-screen hated it, I absolutely loved it. I think it will just be one of those kinds of films (but hey, I also loved "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" which this reminded me of). Pure crazy fantastical stuff and I was completely taken with it.It's a visually beautiful film with loads of odd little CG touches and subtle visual gags. The cutaway tour of the ship was a classic. Murray gives an amazing, energetic, yet deadpan performance and I also liked the richness of the smaller roles like "Klaus."

The soundtrack was quirky and wonderful with unexpectedly hilarious Bowie covers and pounding, rocking tracks in the action scenes.I think the gorgeous locations, sets and props nearly steal the show--kind of reminded me of "Brazil" in that way and I think it is destined to become a cult film in the same way "Brazil" has. I can't wait to take some friends of mine and see what they think once it opens--this is one of those movies that's so different and off the wall that it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Although I realize it's getting mixed reviews, I'll stick my neck out and call it a masterpiece.Being old enough to have grown up with Jacques Cousteau, I felt Anderson really captured the look and feel he was after with the the "movie within the movie" sequences and the yellow typographical stuff was spot-on.If, like me, you're bored with the usual metroplex fare, this odd, unexpected movie is for you. What a blast! Wheeeeee!

Author: Patrick DeVere from Henderson, Nevada
15 December 2004

I cannot express in words how many different styles of film making Wes Anderson combined into this masterpiece. At one point hilarious, sometimes even action-packed, while other times, you may feel a tear forming. Wes Anderson deserves major credit for this new addition to his excellent films.

The stop-motion animation, although underused, was extremely imaginative and is a lost art nowadays in movies that should be taken into consideration. The premise itself was great, but when you watch the film, you almost forget that the sole purpose of the film is to confront the jaguar shark, as you become connected with the characters emotionally.

Overall, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Seu Jorge (whose Portuguese interpretation of "Space Oddity" nearly drew me to tears with laughter) Cate Blanchett, and Owen Wilson, I applaud them for making such a great film better, Wes Anderson as well.Excellent music, great acting, teary moments, and action-packed rescues make this a definite 9.5/10!

Author: Andy (film-critic) from Bookseller of the Blue Ridge
12 January 2005

What a stunning body of work Wes Anderson has created. I will be honest, when I first saw the previews to this film I was worried that Anderson may have gone the way of so many other directors who have developed their name in Hollywood. Art is replaced by money, which is replaced by angry fans. I saw the CGI fish and began to feel a sweat break with nervousness. Will he be able to continue the humor from Bottle Rocket, the darkness of Rushmore, as well as the ensemble connectedness from The Royal Tennanbaums?

Well, folks, I am here to announce that he has taken the Hollywood money and has not veered too far off his signature course. I always imagine Anderson's work as a very dry martini. His humor, the most intelligent work I have seen in a long time, is like the liquid itself, creating this bold texture while packing a powerful emotional punch. The olives are the cast, giving just some extra to nibble on while you enjoy the entire drink. Place these elements together, the drink and olives, and you have The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

To begin with, this film would not have worked without anyone else in the lead than Bill Murray. His ability to contain himself while also giving us the emotional stress of being a first-time dad as well as loosing his best friend is Oscar worthy. He is the perfect guide for our trip, giving us that knowledgeable laugh as well as those sympathetic eyes that seem to shout, "Everything will work out". He is bold and smooth as both the Captain of the vessel as well as learning the tricks of being a father. His ability to deliver his lines was both crucial and beautifully timed giving us just enough to make us fall in love with him by the end of the film.

 Coupled with his amazing performances is the work of everyone else involved. Willem Dafoe proves that he can handle any role, big or small, and make it very memorable. My favorite character during this voyage was Cate Blanchett's role that nearly stole the show from Murray. Her multi-depth character gave us just the distraction that we needed to see the power of the father/son relationship. Her quirks take us deep into the human soul and give us a mother's perspective to this mission. It is a beautiful counter to Murray's passive/aggressive father figure.

Goldblum is quickly becoming a favorite actor of mine, while Huston proves that she still has the ability inside of her. Both of these guys need to see more work. The rest of the eclectic cast ranges from the hilarious "interns" to the melancholy songs of David Bowie (see if you can spot them!). Even Noah Taylor (of Vanilla Sky fame) turned out a stunning performance. The cast shines through beautifully, playing off each other, giving us some of the best performances of the year.

I will admit, Anderson's comic narrative will leave this dry taste in your mouth, but for me it was a great experience. His humor is dry, his films are dry, but that is what makes him different than others in his field. He gives us those long pauses and obscure references that will either force you to think or create frustration because you do not understand his meaning. I have grown up on his films since seeing Bottle Rocket, and I love the way this man creates. One of my favorite lines and scenes in this film that I have raved to everyone as the epitome of an Anderson film was when Zissou first takes Ned to the island and Eleanor tells Steve that one of his cats died.

After some banter, Ned asks what type of cat it was. Zissou replies "Who cares. A tabby I think…" which isn't funny at first, but then you realize that all he has on the island are Siamese cats, which only make me laugh harder in my seat. That is Wes Anderson humor, and it works perfectly for me. His ability to create these challenging characters and put them in situations that I never saw coming (the "pirates" scene being one of them) was outstanding. It felt as if he was throwing his crew into different troubles daily who in turn produced some of the best work ever. Only Wes Anderson could create beauty out of chaos.

My fear of the CGI was muted immediately when I saw that Anderson used the technique to create some of the most imaginative creatures ever to lurk in the sea impressed me. He didn't use it as a central focus of the film (until the end), and used it sporadically so that it really didn't feel as if it was being used. The creatures that he created are so bold and colorful that skillfully he uses them to counter the life of Zissou, which seems be getting darker by the day. This contrast allowed me to see deeper into Murray's character and root for his misadventures throughout the entire film.

Overall, I was very impressed. I know that not many enjoyed this picture as much as his previous works, but for me it was a fresh chapter with a stellar cast. Anderson is slowly changing the face of cinema, and soon others will follow trying to recreate his award winning voice, but will not succeed. This man is in the same boat as Gondry, Coppola, Jonez, and Kaufman. These are the imaginative thinkers of Hollywood that continually break the mold and open the doors to new possibilities.

Grade: ***** out of *****

This story is a lighthearted adventure comedy. I too am guilty of being one of those Wes Anderson fans who salivate over all the small details but while watching this I quickly detached myself from the director and his style and previous work and just let "The Life Aquatic" take me along. And that's what you have to do. It's different from his other stuff in that it's more plot driven. There are some wonderful characters but they have to deal more with outside complications than internal struggles.

It is similar in tone and style to Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H," what with all the juggling of fighting and death (serious themes dealt with in an objective comedic manner). There's also some Fellini moments (it was mostly filmed at Cinecitta). I loved it. Don't go into this film as a biased hipster Wes Anderson fan, clean the slate and take it with an open mind. It's certainly sillier than Rushmore or Tenenbaums, but it's just as ambitious and exponentially courageous with shots and tone. To reiterate: more action oriented, funny as all get out, and quite possibly the funnest I've had in a theater all year.

Author: brainofj72 from United States
27 August 2005

"The Life Aquatic" is most certainly an unusual film. It's something of a collage of colorful imagery, fragmented shots, quirky music, strange characters, bizarre situations, and amusing montages. But if one had seen Wes Anderson's previous films, one would expect nothing less.It can't really be helped that there be a certain amount of hype around Anderson's name, after all, his films "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" both generated vast critical acclaim and three of this young director's four films have already received the Criterion DVD treatment. Is the buzz warranted? I say, absolutely.

Anderson has created some of the most vibrant, vivid, unique, and off-beat films of the last decade, and "The Life Aquatic" is no exception.The film follows Steve Zissou (Murray), a formerly glorious oceanographer whose latest documentary, which is about his closest friend and colleague, Esteban, being eaten by a "Jaguar Shark", receives a less-than-glorious reception. Steve then announces he plans to set out on a voyage to film part two of his documentary, which will follow him and his crew as they attempt to track down the alleged "Jaguar Shark".

Along for the ride is Ned (Wilson), someone who may or may not be Steve's son; Jane (Blanchett), an up-and-coming journalistdoing a story on Zissou; Klaus (Dafoe), the eccentric German first mate; a Portugese, David Bowie-covering weapons expert; a no-nonsense tech expert; a usually semi-nude female crew-member; a band of unpaid interns; and several other quirky personalities. Other characters include Zissou's estranged wife, Eleanor (Huston), and her former husband, Alistair Hennessey (Goldblum). On the journey, the crew encounters money problems, relationship issues, and...pirates.

The film takes place in a vivid world that is somewhat inside Steve's head. A colorful world where the creatures are claymation and where Steve can single-handedly ward off kidnapping, gun-wielding pirates to beat of The Stooges' "Search and Destroy".I do warn you though, if you are not a fan of dry humor, this one's most likely not for you. The movie's loaded with it, in all of its off-beat, tongue-in-cheek anti-glory.There are some wonderful acting performances throughout, including an exuberant Bill Murray,

who just loses himself in the character of Zissou, a subdued Anjelica Huston, whose subtle sly grins and deadpan delivery develop her character far more than anything else, and a spirited Willem Dafoe, who manages to make a German accent sound funnier than I ever imagined it could.If you enjoyed "Rushmore", "The Royal Tenenbaums", "Punch-Drunk Love", or "I Heart Huckabees", then you most certainly should not let this charming, oddly beautiful little film pass beneath your radar.9.5/10

Author: zaitsev_2007
28 January 2006

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is a beautiful film. I'm ashamed to say that the first time I rented it I popped it out of the player after only a couple of minutes. I must have been in the mood for an action flick at the time. I gave the movie a second chance recently and was impressed by this film.The actors are at the top of their form. Cate Blanchett's character is beautiful, pregnant, fiercely independent, and yet vulnerable. Murray is revealing how broad his range is once again.

He shocked me with his talent in the remake of Hamlet, impressed me with Lost in Translation, and now somehow has combined the putz he often plays with an extremely complicated character that few other actors could manage.The comedy is fantastically funny and is a fresh change from the 'Oh no, I plugged up the toilet' humor that has been so prevalent recently. It's still ludicrous at times and yet the viewer welcomes it and enjoys it.Overall, I gave it a 9 out of 10. I highly recommend it and wait to see how Bill Murray will impress us in the future.

Billy Mintsopoulos

Author: jiribel from Czech Republic
21 April 2006

Of course I cannot say the meaning of this movie but I want to offer you a view you can look at this movie again and I am sure most of you will be surprised by this perspective. Do you remember (especially you boys)when you were small? When you guys had your "gang" with leader (Steve), when you got a new boy (Ned) to your gang and some guy was very jealous on him? (Klaus) I am sure one of your rivals was decent boy from a rich family (Hennessey). Maybe you got very smart girl among you who could solve everything (Eleanor).

You could fight with other gangs with guns that could shoot sparkles again and again and nobody got hurt. And when you jump over small pond (sorry huge swamp) there were plenty of leeches on you? Oh, I love that movie, now I know why I felt so sentimental when I watched that movie first time - it reminds me my childhood so so much. Our "gang" had secret plan - to get big boat somewhere, load it with food, guns and go to Cuba. We didn't have scientific dreams :-) I am sure that in this movie Wes Anderson tries to picture his adventurous dreams when he was small.

Now I understand why there is an old man asking for signature of child's sci-fi books, why there is a letter from small boy, why Cate Blanchett is saying at the end of the movie: he will be twelve in eleven and half and Steve responds: that's my favorite age. That was my favorite age, too Steve... I take this movies as a wonderful tribute to childhood (mostly boyish I guess) where great adventure was all around us. Do not get me wrong: I did not discover this idea, I was told about it and for me it perfectly fits together and I love this movie even more!By the way: very similar movie tricks made Czech director Karel Zeman 40 years ago in B&W. Highly recommended

Author: vegetarianhealth from United States
26 April 2006

I went into this movie thinking it would be hilarious. I believe this is how the movie was marketed, and would explain the poor box office showing of this movie.However, this is more a story about life than a comedy. Sure it has a comedy wrapper, but a wrapper is usually thin and inedible compared to the candy inside. This is not your typical candy, but it is fruitful in many ways. This movie is a fabric, not a two dimensional piece of characatured tissue paper as the many signs would have you believe.This movie is for deep thinking people and those with a heart.See it.

Author: daniel-mkatz from Australia
23 July 2005

Well exactly as my summary says, this is a very well made straight-out unpretentious movie about a fading wildlife-film director's attempt to re-create his past success that made him some sort of cult phenomenon. Reading a few of the other reviews, I think this is evidently a "hate it or love it" film, however a lot of people seem to have missed the point-I don't think this film was really intended as a comdey, to me it was more just about the relationships and interactions between the various characters and maybe even an exploration of the human spirit.

The motivation for this project is revenge on the "leopard shark" that killed his best friend/long-standing partner and there is a lot of emotion on the way, including an inspiring relationship between him and his long lost son, whom he has never met but was a huge fan of his as a boy, and the constant drama between him and his wife, who's father's money has payed for his entire career.

Wes Anderson has excellent cinematography, with some great CGI, depicting marine life in a very retro fashion, and beautiful landscapes, as well as a very well put-together soundtrack including Sigur Ros, The Stooges and Ziggy Stardust era Bowie played in Portuguese with a classical guitar accompaniment. We also see Bill Murray at his best as well as a heart-warming performance by Owen Wilson, who I am not normally a fan of. The script is also very well written and the story is so well put-together that even an attack by pirates or looting a large scientific institution seem plausible in a serious movie about an oceanographer! Overall, this is a brilliant film and there isn't a lot more I can say.

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from United States
16 December 2006

I find this a hard movie to rate. Maybe a second viewing would make it easier. It's a odd film: one of these low-key black humor films which is a mixture of drama and comedy. What set this apart were a few other shocking scenes of violence, something not normally in this type of movie. For a comedy, albeit a tongue-in-cheek one, that violence doesn't seem to fit, but it makes the film all the more intriguing.At times I was totally bored with this movie and at other times fascinated. I know one thing: this is a bizarre story! That automatically means it's a good vehicle for Bill Murray, who excels at wacky characters, event he low-key ones as he sometimes plays (i.e. Lost In Translation, The Royal Tenebaums, etc.).

Speaker of the latter, this movie was written and directed by Wes Anderson, the same man who did "Tenenbaums." If you saw that, you have an idea of what you might get here, although I thought Royal Tenenbaums was far funnier.At 118 minutes, this a bit long for what it offers. I'd like to have seen it 15 minutes shorter with a tighter script. But it does offer some good photography in addition to the strange story. This movie, as they say, is not for all tastes.

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Kill Me Again est un film américain réalisé par John Dahl et sorti en 1989.

Lien vers la fiche complete du film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097662/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Cast (ultra succint!)
Val Kilmer
Michael Madsen
Joanne Whalley

Résumé(ultra succint!)
Jack Andrews, un privé en pleine déprime, est contacté par Fay Forrester, jeune femme gangster, qui vient de se débarrasser de son complice en emportant le magot. Après avoir raconté une histoire à faire pleurer l'homme le plus dur, elle demande à Jack de la faire disparaître.
 

Trivia
-Joanne Whaley-Kilmer's new name "Vera Billings" is a combination of the town (Billings) where writer-director 'Dahl, John' is from, and a girl he dated.
 
-In the yellow pages, the address of the PI is on Dahl Ave. - a joke by the art department to the director, before they knew the address would be visible on-screen.                            

Prix et distinctions
Ce film a reçu le Grand prix du Festival du film policier de Cognac en 1990

While this movie is far from perfect, it deserves any true noir fan's time and attention.

Author: movieman-187 from NYC
8 February 2000

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.

15 out of 19 people found the following review useful:

Nifty little flick

Author: inframan from the lower depths
25 June 2005

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!

12 out of 14 people found the following review useful:

Double crossing

Author: jotix100 from New York
26 August 2005

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.

15 out of 21 people found the following review useful:

'80s Noir For Audience Which Likes A Mean Edge

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from United States
11 March 2006

Unlike the title, once turned out to be just right. I should have stopped at one viewing, which I really liked. For some reason, a second look five years later wasn't nearly the fun. All of sudden, the characters just were too hard-edged with a sadistic killer and lead female that were not fun to watch. Maybe I'm just mellowing and these type of low-lifes just don't appeal to me anymore, at least when comprise two- thirds of the main characters.

So, if you like nasty characters with a big mean streak in them, ones that have no ethics whatsoever and are proud of it, then'll you like this modern-day film noir very much. Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer and Michael Madsen are not three people you want as friends, particularly the last two.

The story has a few twists - big twists - near the end, although I suppose if you thought about it long enough you'd discover some credibility problems with it. Nonetheless, you have to give this film decent points for one thing: it entertains you for the full 95 minutes.

8 out of 10 people found the following review useful:

Enjoyable little neo-noir - worth watching until the last ten minutes

Author: The_Void from Beverley Hills, England
3 January 2006

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.

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:

Laid back film noir

Author: Wayne Malin (wwaayynnee51@hotmail.com) from United States
10 May 2008

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.

10 out of 16 people found the following review useful:

Once was not Enough?

Author: sol1218 from brooklyn NY
5 September 2005

A 1989 version of a 1940's like Film Noir crime/suspense movie set in the wide open spaces of the Navada and Arizona desert and American Indian Reservations.

Ripping off the mob of $850,000.00 outside of Winnemucca NV. as well as killing one of it's top honchos the two desperado's Vince and his girlfriend Fay, Michael Madsen & Joanne Whailey,take off for parts unknown to wait out the storm of the mob and state police all points search for them. Stopping off at a rest stop Vince is smashed in the head by Fay, as he was answering natures call, who took off with his car and the mob's cash for Reno.

The move "Kill Me Again" then switches to this local Reno Private Investagter Jack Andrews, Val Kilmer, who gets his right pinkie broken by two goons for being late on his loan of $10,000.00 that the mob advanced him. Jack is told by the mobsters that if he doesn't have the money by Wendsday they themselves will donate it to him for his funeral. Not knowing what to do and with no way to come up with the cash Jack get's his prayers answered when the next day. Fay walks into his shabby and smashed-up office with a proposition that may very well save his life.

Fay is willing to pay Jack $10,000.00 to forge documents to make it look like she's officially dead so her boyfriend Vince won't find her. But their's one small thing that the two didn't figure on. The $10,000.00 that Fay's to pay Jack for his services belongs to the Navada Maranot Mob who Fay and Vince riped off. Added to all that the Mob that got ripped off by Fay & Vince is who the loan sharks, who are about to do Jack in, work for!

Val Kilmer even though he has the leading role as Robert Andrews is very unconvincing as the hard boiled and down and out PI. Kilmer is far too pretty and good looking to play the part that a Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum portrayed in the 1940's and 50's. Michael Madsen is near perfect as the psychopathic and sadistic Vince Miller who chillingly toys with his victims, like a cat playing with a mouse, before he brutally does them it.

Joanne Whailey is also near perfect as the femme fatal who manipulates those who fall under her spell, like Vince & Jack, and uses them for her own selfish and greedy needs. The ending of "Kill Me Again" is so predictable that it hits you with a strong dose of deja vu; you more then expected something like that to happen. With those in the film, Jack Vince & Fay, reminding you of many like wise type characters you've seen in film noir movies over the years.

3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:

Great Entertainment For Film Noir Fans

Author: seymourblack-1 from United Kingdom
19 December 2010

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

"Kill Me Again" is a highly enjoyable action packed neo-noir thriller featuring a group of characters who are all thoroughly untrustworthy and a plot that's full of twists, double crosses and deception. This was the first movie directed by the talented John Dahl (who later made the brilliant "Red Rock West") and possibly it's for this reason that it didn't gain the box office success that it clearly merited.

After Fay Forrester (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) and Vince Miller (Michael Madsen) steal a large sum of money from a couple of mobsters, Fay takes an opportunity to hit Vince over the head with a stone and leaves him unconscious when she makes off with all the cash. Vince is a psychopathic killer and Fay is justifiably terrified of what'll happen if he catches up with her. She makes her way to Reno and there hires private investigator Jack Andrews (Val Kilmer) to help her fake her own death.

Jack's life has been in turmoil since the car accident in which his wife was killed and he's also deeply in debt to a violent gang of criminals who broke one of his fingers to show that they meant business when they said that they wanted his loan repayments made on time. Jack has serious doubts about taking the job but decides to go ahead anyway because of his desperate financial problems.

Jack makes a good job of faking Fay's death and even becomes the murder suspect but Fay then disappears before paying him his full fee. He decides to go after her but when Vince discovers that's she's still alive, things get desperately dangerous for Jack and he finds himself being pursued simultaneously by Vince, the police and the criminals.

Joanne Whalley-Kilmer puts great energy and enthusiasm into her portrayal of the treacherous and seductive femme fatale and Val Kilmer successfully conveys the aimless and apathetic state of mind which has overtaken Jack since the tragic loss of his wife. Michael Madsen steals the show, however, as the incredibly brutal and seemingly unstoppable Vince.

No-one would describe "Kill Me Again" as ground breaking but it is extremely exciting and wonderful entertainment for anyone who loves film noir.