Kill Me Again

Kill Me Again is a 1989 American neo-noir crime thriller film co-written and directed by John Dahl. It stars Val Kilmer as a young detective who becomes involved with a woman (Joanne Whalley) who is on the run from her psychopath boyfriend (Michael Madsen).Template:Sfn

Kill Me Again was released in the United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on October 27, 1989.

Plot

A criminal couple, Vince and Fay, steal $850,000 from Las Vegas mobsters, killing one in the process. During their getaway, Fay knocks out the controlling Vince and escapes with the money.

Jack Andrews, a widowed Reno private investigator drowning in gambling debt, is approached by Fay. She poses as an abused wife and offers him $10,000 to fake her death. Though skeptical, Jack agrees to help.

After staging Fay's death, Jack discovers she has fled to Las Vegas with half his payment. Police briefly arrest him for her "murder" but release him due to insufficient evidence. Meanwhile, Vince learns of Jack's involvement through newspaper reports.

When loan sharks take the remainder of Jack's advance payment, he decides to follow Fay to Vegas. Before he can leave, Vince attacks him demanding Fay's whereabouts, but Jack escapes. The mob also targets Jack, believing he has their money.

In Vegas, Jack locates Fay gambling with the stolen money. Before he can get answers, mobsters confront them in her hotel room. Fay shoots one dead while the other escapes. As they flee, Fay admits she stole the money from Vince after he stole it from the mob.

The pair hide at a lakeside motel where they become intimate. Jack suggests starting a new life in Maine, and Fay agrees. When they learn police are seeking them for the mobster's murder, Fay suggests they fake their deaths to escape.

Jack calls his partner Alan to say goodbye, accidentally revealing their location. He then explains his plan to Fay: they'll stage a boat explosion to fake their deaths, then retrieve the hidden money before fleeing to Maine. Meanwhile, Vince tortures and kills Alan to discover their whereabouts.

Jack leaves Fay at the motel while he buries the money and supplies on an Indian reservation. Upon returning, he finds Vince holding Fay at gunpoint. Jack negotiates, offering half the money in exchange for their freedom. Vince restrains Jack in a closet, then assaults Fay, who manages to grab the gun and shoot him.

The couple flees to retrieve the money, but Vince appears, revealing Fay's betrayal. Fay shoots Jack, who falls into the lake. Fay and Vince take the briefcase and escape in Jack's car, only to discover it's empty. Police chase them to the border where they die in a fiery crash.

Jack, wounded but alive and in possession of the money, is rescued from the lake by two Native Americans who drive him to safety.

Cast

• Val Kilmer as Jack Andrews
• Joanne Whalley as Fay Forrester
• Michael Madsen as Vince Miller
• Jon Gries as Alan Swayzie
• Pat Mulligan as Sammy
• Michael Sharrett as Tim, Motel Clerk
• Michael Greene as Lieutenant Hendrix

Production

Development

While working as a storyboarder on features like Robocop and Something Wild, John Dahl was also writing spec scripts with his writing partner David W. Warfield. When Warfield posed the question of how to get someone to utter the phrase ‘Kill me again’, the pair decided to make their next project a neo-noir, inspired by pulp fiction titles such as D.O.A..Template:Sfn

Dahl and Warfield made a pact that they would accept offers to sell the script for $300,000 or above, otherwise they would make it themselves, with Warfield producing and Dahl directing. Having failed to garner offers above $250,000, the pair set about making the film themselves. Through Steve Golin and Sigurjón Sighvatsson’s production company they reached a deal with PolyGram to produce Kill Me Again, with Dahl directing. MGM agreed to co-finance the production if they could get Val Kilmer to star.Template:Sfn

Kilmer’s name was prominent at the time, having just starred in Willow. He ended up getting paid twice what he earned on that film for Kill Me Again. Dahl said that Kilmer was difficult to work with, although he helped in getting Joanne Whalley for the female lead. Dahl and the producers were interested in casting Whalley, who unbeknownst to them was married to Kilmer. When they mentioned her name to Kilmer he said, ‘Oh that’s interesting because I’m actually married to her.’Template:Sfn

Filming

Kill Me Again was shot in Nevada in Reno, Hazen, and Las Vegas, with additional photography occurring in Los Angeles, California.

Release

MGM and Kilmer were cool on the final product, and little money or effort was spent on promoting it. It received a limited theatrical release on October 27, 1989, showing in around 200 theaters in the United States.

Some good reviews were enough to persuade MGM to show it in one theater in Los Angeles, earning the film a positive review in the Los Angeles Times and an extended run in Los Angeles. However, this was not enough to influence MGM into promoting the film further.Template:Sfn

Reception

Box office

The film was a failure at the box office, grossing $283,694 but it later achieved some success on home video.

Critical response

The film drew a mixed reception. Variety gave it a mostly positive review, stating: "The tale of a down-and-out detective and a seamy femme fatale is a thoroughly professional little entertainment. Time Out gave it a mostly negative review, complaining: "Derived from assorted Hitchcocks and noir classics, the tortuous storyline of writer-director Dahl's determinedly sordid thriller has its moments," but was critical of the three lead actors and concludes: "Setting its study of betrayal and deceit in and around the gambling towns of the Nevada desert, the film sporadically achieves a truly seedy atmosphere, but there are too many symbols, too many loose ends, and too many vaguely sensationalist scenes.

See also

• List of American films of 1989

External links

• Template:Trim/ Template:Trim at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck
• Template:Trim Kill Me Again at Rotten TomatoesTemplate:WikidataCheck