ANCHOR INTRO: Simon Pegg is riding a wave of success with roles in the film franchises Star Trek and Mission Impossible. But KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando says the new comedy thriller Kill Me Three Times won’t be adding to his popularity. You know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. It’s also true that you can’t judge a movie by its trailer. Take Kill Me Three Times. Based on the trailer you’d think Simon Pegg’s hit man having a bad day was the focus of the film. CLIP I’m Charlie Wolf and as I lie here waiting for death’s cold embrace, I find myself asking the question, “How the f--- did I come to this?” Pegg’s the star of the trailer but a mere footnote in the film. This wouldn’t be a problem if he were used well or if the rest of the film were anything approaching watchable. Sadly neither’s the case. Making a comedy about murder is no easy task and the filmmakers clearly aren’t up to the challenge. In fact they prove even more inept than their hapless cast of characters. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
Simon Pegg is riding a wave of success with roles in the film franchises "Star Trek" and "Mission Impossible." But the new comedy thriller "Kill Me Three Times" (opening April 10 at Landmark's Ken Cinema) won’t be adding to his popularity.
Everyone probably knows that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. But it's also true that you can’t judge a movie by its trailer. Take the new film, "Kill Me Three Times."
It opens with a close up of Simon Pegg lying on the ground and telling us in a voiceover: "I’m Charlie Wolf and as I lie here waiting for death’s cold embrace, I find myself asking the question, 'How the f--- did I come to this?'"
Based on the trailer you’d think Pegg’s hit man having a bad day was the focus of the film. Pegg is clearly the star of the trailer but a mere footnote in the film. I can understand the false advertising since Pegg is the most marketable name in the film and this wouldn’t be a problem if he were used well in his limited screen time or if the rest of the film were anything approaching watchable.
Sadly, neither’s the case. And it's made worse by the fact that he looks like he's picking up on the look and personality of the character he played in "World's End."
The story involves a lot of deceit and double crosses that are set in motion when a man hires Charlie to kill his wife (the lovely Alice Braga). Charlie goes to execute the hit only to discover that someone else is also trying to kill the poor woman.
I'm not quite sure if the title refers to all the attempts to take her life or if it's meant to describe Charlie's situation since he opens the film waiting for "death's cold embrace."
Making a comedy about murder is no easy task and the filmmakers of "Kill Me Three Times" clearly aren’t up to the challenge. The violence is frequently bloody and brutal yet writer James McFarland and director Kriv Stendler want us to find it all hilarious.
That's a tricky tone and it requires a savvy assurance that neither McFarland nor Stendler possess.
In fact, they prove even more inept than their hapless cast of characters. This fact was amplified when I accidentally came across Stendler's Director's Statement for the press kit.
Here's a taste of what he said:
What I love about "Kill Me Three Times" is that it is a movie totally and unequivocally meant for an audience to enjoy. It’s what I call a traditional, all-out “popcorn” movie - a fun, rollicking, sexy, thrilling and unashamedly entertaining piece of mainstream cinema that delivers all the vicarious thrills, spills, smart laughs and shocking surprises modern audiences expect and demand from this kind of movie thriller.
I also see "Kill Me Three Times" as a modern crime thriller conceived in the great tradition of classics such as "Pulp Fiction" and "No Country For Old Men." Packed full of double and triple crosses, sexy femme fatales, stolen loot, blackmail, betrayal, and murder, McFarland’s script cleverly re-works all these elements into a taut, tightly structured “Rashomon” style architecture. It’s a puzzle that finally reveals itself in a refreshingly fun, entertaining and memorably satisfying way. It’s the kind of movie I love watching, and it’s the kind of movie I am passionate about making.
I can only hope that the talented Pegg (who made one of my all time favorite films, "Shaun of the Dead") took this project on because he lost some bet or owed someone a big favor. He doesn't even seem to be enjoying himself (or maybe that's me projecting my lack of enjoyment on him). When his character takes a call in the middle of an assassination he seems to be re-enacting Paul Giamatti's scene from "Shoot 'Em Up."
"Kill Me Three Time" (rated R for bloody violence, language, sexuality, nudity) isn't even worth a single viewing.
