Kill Me Three Times

Studio: Magnolia
Directed by Kriv Stenders

Apr 08, 2015 By Stephen Danay Web Exclusive

Professional hitman Charlie Wolfe has come to the sleepy Australian beach town of Eagle’s Nest for a simple job: kill the unfaithful wife of a jealous bar owner. His mission quickly spirals out of control as a scheming couple, a dirty cop and a valuable life insurance policy are thrown in the mix, resulting in mistaken identities, double crosses and murder.

Although they remain icons of hip ‘90s cinema, the success of Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers resulted in an unfortunate trend. The half decade that followed saw a new breed of quirky crime films with mixed up chronology, stylized violence and characters who spoke exclusively in pop culture references. As a movement, it was mostly regrettable. For every Go there was a 2 Days in the Valley. Or a Suicide Kings. Or a Boondock Saints. Nearly two decades later, you can practically smell the mothballs on the entire sub-genre.

Cribbing mostly from the Coen Brothers’ filmography, specifically Fargo and Blood Simple, Kill Me Three Times attempts to put a comedic spin on a similar double-crossing spousal murder plot, moving the action from the wastelands of middle America to the slick, sunny coast of Western Australia. To call the film a comedy is a clear misnomer, however, as it spends far to much balancing a needlessly convoluted plot between its dull protagonists to have time for any jokes. Director Kriv Stenders keeps the tone blasé enough to drain the film of any drama, but seems to hope all of the comedy will spring from the characters and their varying levels of incompetence. The cast ranges from forgettable to wasted, with Simon Pegg as the sole reprieve from a series of boring love triangles and double-crosses. As hitman Charlie Wolfe, his out-of-towner status establishes him as a sort of Greek chorus for the various mishaps of the other characters. Any humor in the character comes from Pegg’s gift for hilarious reaction shots and double takes, but even he is unable to salvage the dialogue, which is as rote as it comes. Although it picks up a bit of steam in the third act, the film will feel like a waste of time much earlier in the runtime.

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