It's not 100% terrible. But it's far less than what I was hoping for. I feel bad for Selma Blair.
The first impression that 'Kill me later' makes within the first few minutes, and sustains to some extent throughout, is that it's painfully 90s. Watch male lead Charlie, practicing drums on the edge of a small boat dock for some reason - straight out of an early 90s music video, it seems. Does he have frosted tips, or is his hair just bad naturally? Is there any specific reason Charlie needed to be English, or was that just an incidental result of casting? Some selections on the soundtrack are okay, but too many ruin themselves with annoying vocals, especially those of the nasal, whiny alt-rock variety. Self-indulgent camerawork and editing in the first few minutes, before the movie meaningfully even begins, is just an appetizer for emphatically overzealous camerawork and editing, and questionable sequencing, that defines the feature at large. I suppose someone thought this was a cheeky, clever, novel approach to film-making. I just find it annoying.
The dialogue and scene writing is tiresome, and sometimes stilted and unconvincing as it presents, or even hackneyed. I don't know about Max Beesley, but I know Selma Blair is a fine actress, yet as scene partners they have no chemistry - making the cliched development of a friendship between their characters wholly unbelievable and contrived. I don't know if it's that lack of magnetism between the leads, or poor direction from Dana Lustig, but one way or another the acting here just doesn't pass muster, and the same is true of their co-stars. There are small inclusions throughout that inspire a few happy neurons to fire off - such as the unique footwear that Charlie provides for Shawn at one point - and a few fleeting sparks of good notions, but the weak writing and construction of the picture otherwise quite overshadows any passing value. For kicks, throw in some slow motion that looks like it was lifted out of an episode of 'Unsolved mysteries.'
On top of all this, the premise is only especially relevant to just the first third, and the remaining two-thirds just kind of meander and drag on, even as - with or without the help of the camerawork and editing - it often feels disjointed and sloppy. Infrequent cuts to another of the would-be bank robbers are wholly superfluous (and therefore aggravating) until they're suddenly not, and other supporting characters are sufficiently irritating that they detract from the viewing experience instead of add to the narrative. All this diverts so strongly from what the basic concept had promised that when, later on, we do revisit the suicidal ideations of female lead Shawn - you know, the premise? - they feel out of place. Reveals of character background, and the advancement of character arcs, feel out of place.
I could go on, but honestly, I'm as tired of writing these words as I was of watching the movie before the third act even rolled around. By the time the climax and ending finally emerged, I was entirely unable to care. The comedy and the drama both fall flat, and cancel each other out. The cast mostly seem wasted. The fundamental craft of the feature isn't nearly as smart as it thinks it is - it's rather obnoxious, more than anything else. There were good ideas here, and it could have been a good movie, especially with Blair at the center, but even those moments that should carry ponderous emotional weight become dull and tepid. I guess if you're a diehard fan of someone in the cast there might be a reason to watch this on a very, very, very lazy day, but otherwise, why bother? 'Kill me later' starts out with an entertaining idea, but unfortunately, that's pretty much the best it gets.
The first impression that 'Kill me later' makes within the first few minutes, and sustains to some extent throughout, is that it's painfully 90s. Watch male lead Charlie, practicing drums on the edge of a small boat dock for some reason - straight out of an early 90s music video, it seems. Does he have frosted tips, or is his hair just bad naturally? Is there any specific reason Charlie needed to be English, or was that just an incidental result of casting? Some selections on the soundtrack are okay, but too many ruin themselves with annoying vocals, especially those of the nasal, whiny alt-rock variety. Self-indulgent camerawork and editing in the first few minutes, before the movie meaningfully even begins, is just an appetizer for emphatically overzealous camerawork and editing, and questionable sequencing, that defines the feature at large. I suppose someone thought this was a cheeky, clever, novel approach to film-making. I just find it annoying.
The dialogue and scene writing is tiresome, and sometimes stilted and unconvincing as it presents, or even hackneyed. I don't know about Max Beesley, but I know Selma Blair is a fine actress, yet as scene partners they have no chemistry - making the cliched development of a friendship between their characters wholly unbelievable and contrived. I don't know if it's that lack of magnetism between the leads, or poor direction from Dana Lustig, but one way or another the acting here just doesn't pass muster, and the same is true of their co-stars. There are small inclusions throughout that inspire a few happy neurons to fire off - such as the unique footwear that Charlie provides for Shawn at one point - and a few fleeting sparks of good notions, but the weak writing and construction of the picture otherwise quite overshadows any passing value. For kicks, throw in some slow motion that looks like it was lifted out of an episode of 'Unsolved mysteries.'
On top of all this, the premise is only especially relevant to just the first third, and the remaining two-thirds just kind of meander and drag on, even as - with or without the help of the camerawork and editing - it often feels disjointed and sloppy. Infrequent cuts to another of the would-be bank robbers are wholly superfluous (and therefore aggravating) until they're suddenly not, and other supporting characters are sufficiently irritating that they detract from the viewing experience instead of add to the narrative. All this diverts so strongly from what the basic concept had promised that when, later on, we do revisit the suicidal ideations of female lead Shawn - you know, the premise? - they feel out of place. Reveals of character background, and the advancement of character arcs, feel out of place.
I could go on, but honestly, I'm as tired of writing these words as I was of watching the movie before the third act even rolled around. By the time the climax and ending finally emerged, I was entirely unable to care. The comedy and the drama both fall flat, and cancel each other out. The cast mostly seem wasted. The fundamental craft of the feature isn't nearly as smart as it thinks it is - it's rather obnoxious, more than anything else. There were good ideas here, and it could have been a good movie, especially with Blair at the center, but even those moments that should carry ponderous emotional weight become dull and tepid. I guess if you're a diehard fan of someone in the cast there might be a reason to watch this on a very, very, very lazy day, but otherwise, why bother? 'Kill me later' starts out with an entertaining idea, but unfortunately, that's pretty much the best it gets.