"Kill Me Again" (1989)

This is one of those movies you wish you would’ve watched in theaters. Because it would’ve been a discovery. As it were, I recall watching it on VHS shortly after watching director John Dahl’s second effort “Red Rock West”…which was again another southwestern film noir. It’s all timing folks.

The second time I recall watching this was over at a friend’s house who had HBO. Apparently they’d played the shit out of this movie. But STILL it gained no traction. What was it about this well crafted movie people didn’t like? I still have no idea.

The movie stars Val Kilmer as Jack Andrews, a down-on-his-luck private detective whose haunted by the death of his wife. He owes (presumably) bookies money who rough him up. Enter Fay…played by the sliterthly sexy Joanne Whalley-Kilmer. Okay, a quick thing about hyphenate names…woman thinks she’s a strong independent woman. I have no problems with that. So don’t marry insane weirdos like Val Kilmer. It doesn’t end well.

She is willing to pay Jack big money to fake her death to get her insane boyfriend off her trail. See, earlier in the movie, we see that she had busted up her boyfriend’s head and ran off with mob money. The boyfriend is played by Michael Madsen, who plays…Michael Madsen. But he’s so good at being a creepy torture artist. Hence, he is desperate to track down Fay.

The fraud goes underway, as Jack fakes her death and as he dumps the car and returns to the hotel, she has taken off. Bambozzling him. Unfortunately for her, she picked a P.I. that needs the money. Yes, he’s a loser, but a morally upstanding one. Which doing the right thing has constantly bitten him. This is no exception. The kindness he shows Fay gets him stuck.

Now a smart person would just let this go, and the consequences will fall where they may. Except, Jack gets pinched by the police…and charged with the fake murder of Fay. I won’t say anymore, other than…for being late 80’s it’s surprisingly sophisticated. HOWEVER, there is a twist at the end which may have been the sinking of this movie. The characters betray who they are. And it becomes really frustrating. Logic dictated what should’ve happen, which is doesn’t. Not like the movie goes a specific direction it needs to, but that you are left asking why. But then again, maybe the erratic nature of behavior is enough to explain it. In a film noir, probably.

This is a fun three handed movie. Everything works as it should, when it does. The pacing is solid. If you watch enough who-done-its, none of this will come as a surprise. The journey, in this case, would’ve made Raymond Chandler proud.