You Kill Me

I have trouble with what passes for comedy these days, which is why you'll note that I don't review many. As the commercial success of films like Borat confirms, what passes for comedy is - for the most part - stupid, mean spirited and in bad taste. So I have to admit to being positively giddy about this little gem of a film. With a smart screenplay, fine direction and a picture perfect cast - this is my idea of great comedy.

Frank Falenczyk (Sir Ben Kingsley!) is a hit man for a low level crime family out of Buffalo. He is also an alcoholic who's out of control consumption ultimately causes him to miss a crucial job. When he's sent to San Francisco to clean up his act, or else, he enters AA and starts the 12-step process with a vengeance. Are you following here? Just inserting an assassin into the culture of 12-step should have you giggling; he's so earnest at the podium trying to explain how his drinking has interfered with his work while the fellow addicts all nod in empathy. Add the romantic interest of Laurel (Tea Leone!) and his gay sponsor Tom (Luke Wilson!) and you have a delightful tale of redemption... well, of a sort. He really does love his work.

John Dahl artfully directs, but this cast of pros including Bill Pullman and Dennis Farina are so obviously enjoying themselves, how could this go wrong? Tea and Sir Ben, both masters of deadpan delivery, also manage a sweet chemistry. I hope these young writers (Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) keep this kind of comedy flowing. We could all use this kind of laugh more often.... Check out the website here.

Perfume, the Story of a Murderer

Okay, there's strange and then there's uber-strange. You know I have nothing against a little oddness, being a little odd myownself, but... this film takes off into a whole new realm of weird. I think they were aiming for high brow. They missed. I'm thinking a head or two at Dreamworks must have rolled.

Based on a 20 year old international best seller, Das Parfum by Patrick Suskind, Perfume is the story of Jean-Baptiste Granouille, a child of misfortune born in 18th century Paris with an extraordinary sense of smell. Just being in an 18th century city with a sense of smell at all would be a misfortune, but Granouille (Ben Wishaw) pursues olfactory experience with a relish that leads him to become a happy little serial killer. And that's not even the weird part.

A lavish period piece with fine cinematography (you've got to admire when a visual medium actually conjures up smells for you,) with, get this, Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman in supporting roles, now that's got to sound interesting. And although there are moments when the film almost saves itself with some good ol' black humor, I'm afraid the descent, if you'll pardon the pun, into bizarre was too much for me. Check out the equally lavish website, where you can purchase a $700 perfume coffret, here.

Zodiac

David Fincher is not my favorite director. Remember Seven? Probably the slowest serial killer movie ever. You could nap during all the aching cop "what's it all mean?" stuff even with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. Well, he's done it again. Zodiac is slow - slow to get started, slow to get to the point, slow to reveal why Jake Gyllenhaal is even there. But look on the bright side. It's also long.

Now you think you know that this film is about the Zodiac killer who terrorized the Bay Area in the late 60's'/early 70's, less with his killings as he wasn't all that prolific, than with his taunting encoded letters to the press. You would be wrong. It's really about Robert Graysmith (Gyllenhaal,) his obsession with the killer and the subsequent bestsellers he wrote about his theories. This story is Graysmith's interpretation of the events, so don't start taking notes.

Now I adore Jake Gyllenhaal, but he's wasted here. As are Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey, Jr. (who's starting to do the Jack Nicholson thing and only portray himself - as in eternally stoned and cynical.) I'll throw them a bone to say that the Zodiac saga leaves much to be desired in and of itself - what makes it interesting is what's missing - an ending. The film gives us one, if you want one bad enough you'll find it. Even if it's false. (The official website slowed my computer to a crawl, but if you want to, try it here.)

Fracture

Fracture is one of the smarter crime dramas I've watched in awhile, but let's give credit where it's due and I will never tire of Anthony Hopkins. What is it about this guy that makes him so thoroughly... creepy? No other actor comes to mind that can make the hair on the back of my neck stand up while sitting shackled in a chair. As his most terrifying scenes in Silence of the Lambs were spent sparring with Clarice in that position, his best work in this film is toying with Ryan Gosling. Hopkins has the chilling smile and dead eyes of the psychopath down cold. duh.

Ted Crawford (Hopkins) shoots his cheating wife in the head. Willie Beachum (Gosling) is the smug, up and coming prosecutor who wrongly assumes that nailing Crawford for attempted murder (wifey is a cabbage) will be the last slam dunk of his DA career before he's off to a lucrative position in a major law firm. But Crawford is a fracture engineer and way smarter than you or Mr. Fancypants DA and he's going to get away with it... and Willie is going to have to make the tough choice of that big money job or letting the bastard walk.

Gosling is going to be around for awhile. He more than handles sharing the screen with Sir Anthony and that's saying a bunch. Director Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear) builds the game and the tension between his players nicely. Anthony Hopkins is ... creepy. You may figure this one out before the hapless hero, but not ten minutes into it, so it's entertaining to the end. Check out the above average website here.