Frank Falenczyk (Ben Kingsley) is a hit-man for the Polish mob in Buffalo but the drinking is getting in the way. He is forced to sober up in San Francisco. Tom (Luke Wilson) is his sponsor from AA, and he gets a mortician job. He falls for Laurel Pearson (Téa Leoni) who loves older men because they're done testing.Ben Kingsley is going deadpan acting in this one. He's especially proud of the precision in his killings. It's not the killing that he regrets. It's the lack of professionalism when he was drinking. It's a quirky character. He, Leoni, and Wilson are all likable people. They talk about the craziest things nonchalantly. It's a rather low energy affair. It's a quirky and cute cast, but they're not necessarily laugh out loud funny. Kingsley is too calm. He needs to play up the wackiness.

I have overlooked this movie when it was released and it's through perusal of IMDb's various lists I came across it. I use the term overlooked because I usually would read the storyline and other movie information for titles that feature the Oscar winning actor Ben Kingsley; several of them appealed to my taste in the various genres he's delivered his quality contributions, though more did not. How else could I, or anyone else, have had the pleasure to see "House of Sand and Fog", if it weren't for the effort of looking for his stuff to start with? Kingsley has been known to make movies which potential monetary success were tentative. This movie is quite difficult to clearly categorize; it depends on the state of mind you're in at the time. I define it as a blend of dark and witty comedy with an expected but discrete drama fusion. The dialogue, mostly, captured my attention; of course, the performance by Ben Kingsley met my expectations. Téa Leoni, who's every single performance of the past twenty years I liked, again, did not fail to please and entertain me; she's a professional other actors have remarked look forward to team up with. The story is simple, straightforward, has many expected moments, not to use the term predictable which nuance I purposefully like to point out; sometimes simplicity allows good actors to shine because they make details count. Denis Farina plays an Irish gangster; he usually excels at half that role, the gangster part, and I was okay with that.

I enjoyed the film. Good story, mostly well acted. The one thing that really REALLY annoyed me within the movie was Kingsleys accent. He can not(!) do a US American at all. It distracted me a lot during the film. He also seemed to be off his "game" as far as acting goes....the part could have perhaps been cast better. But, I did enjoy this film. I enjoyed the extras, especially the CG description. Was surprising to see that most of the snow was computer generated. Was interesting also to be made aware of the "stripping of colour" from some scenes. Was interesting to see the side by side shots showing the colour before and after. It was done due to the fact that the trees had green leaves on them and they wanted a cold winter look.

Dahl's 'You Kill Me' is an offbeat dark comedy. The concept of an alcoholic hit-man forced to be on sabbatical in order for him to quit by joining an AA meeting and during the process falling in love with a feisty young woman is intriguing and hilarious. 'You Kill Me' has plenty such funny moments but the problem for me was that, somewhere in the middle, it moves at an extremely slow pace. Moreover the film does have its share of clichés especially towards the end and it would have been more enjoyable if the story was a little more tightpacked. I liked the violin pieces that played in the background every time Frank was having a good and a bad moment. Kingsley is great as Frank Falenczyk. Tèa Leoni is hilarious. Known for her comedic abilities, here her approach is subtle. Her reaction to Frank and her dialogue delivery is superb. Luke Wilson is sadly wasted. Being a big fan of black comedy, 'You Kill Me' was worth a one-time watch mostly because of the comic scenes and the performances.