So, back in 2014 Australia gave us the film Kill Me Three Times. And (based on box-office numbers) it seems to have had such a limited release I imagine only those of us who have found it on Netflix know it exists. (Unless you’re a diehard Simon Pegg fan, then I’m pretty sure you knew about it while it was filming.)
Cut in what seems to be an unsuccessful homage to Memento, the story is disjointed but still managed to hold my attention.
Jack (Interesting-face from the Winter Soldier elevator scene) hires Charlie (Shawn not so dead) to kill his wife, Alice (the sniper from Predators) after he’s shown proof that she’s cheating on him with Dylan (Hemsworth the Elder).
At the same time Jack’s sister, Lucy (Warm Body #1) has found a solution to the gambling debt her husband Nathan (Snaggletooth from Blindspot) has heaped upon them.
Perhaps the thing that confused me the most about this movie is the Netflix description… which led me to believe it would be a free-for-all hit man smorgasbord. That is not at all what it is.
It begins with a monologue from the hit man that telegraphs two things:
1) he’s going to “die” at the end.
2) he’s probably not actually going to die at the end.
The follow-up is a pretty unnecessary scene illustrating that he is, in fact, a hit man (here let’s have him kill a random guy with no given reason). The only plus side I have to that particular segment is that it gives you some lovely views of his car… also, it’s short.
Was it worth an hour and a half of my time?
Yes.
Would I watch it again?
Probably.
But I’ve yet to meet a movie I didn’t have at least three problems with….
Here on, read at your own risk. Spoilers ahead.
The problem with the Memento-esque nature of the directorial choice is that the film is broken into strange segments that--while I’m sure attempted to provide one--fails to give the viewer a slowly-building reveal. The break and restart format comes across disjointed.
For half a moment, I thought the film was going in a Melinda, Melinda direction instead, or possibly something more akin to Go. Sadly, this was not the case, but the motivation for the sister to point her brother in the direction of the “specialist” a mere day before she plans to kill her sister in law doesn’t make any sense. It seems as though they planned something more involved, for later? If so, it was not clear enough. It feels like a plot thread that was left frayed and forgotten. I found myself wishing there was a perspective bounce instead of the randomly chosen information given at different times in the re-hash of the narrative.
Without the initial understanding of why Lucy and Nathan are trying to kill Alice too, things get confusing as soon as you couple the on-screen actions with the Netflix blurb. Lucy’s motivations aren’t clear, and her seemingly-bumbling husband’s interactions don’t make a lot of sense until things are rehashed in the third section. Without the initial character development, the second segment is one big question mark.
There are lots of ways to make me despise a character. While this movie manages to avoid the three cardinal sins. Jack plays into that eye-roll-worthy, and all-too-often seen in real life, role of the man who loves a woman more than anything in the world… and shows it by hitting her when she perpetuates the smallest slight. Swearing that you love your wife to the man you’ve just hired to kill her is a good way to prove it.
People do die in an almost-horror movie formula queue. There are eight named cast members and only two (and a half?) of them manage to survive. Pegg’s fate is left a question... like any good horror flick monster. Not that this was a horror flick, nor was he a typical monster.
Perhaps the most tragic death, though, was the drowning of that beautiful right hand drive beetle.
As with so many movies anymore, the HEA ending is marred by the simple fact that real issues are not addressed. There are a host of bodies at the end of this, all tied to the surviving characters, and no inclination of how on Earth they’re going to be explained/cleared up.
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