Delayed Reaction: The Killing

The Premise: A group of men succeed at a race track heist only to watch things fall apart in the fallout.

 

How much further into the Stanley Kubrick filmography do I need to go? At this point, the only post-The Killing movie I have left is Lolita. Surely I'll watch that. Do I Qreally need to do Fear and Desire and Killer's Kiss? For a director I remain this ambivalent about, I've covered a large portion of Kubrick's filmography. I don't regret any of it. I fully agree that he's talented and a great director. It feels inconsistent for me to like Chris Nolan's film so much yet complain about Kubrick always leaving me feeling cold. That's where I'm at though.

 

The Killing by all accounts is a movie I should love. And it may be my favorite Kubrick. I enjoy filmnoir. I love a heist. Shifting perspectives are fun. I adore Rififi, which this has a lot in common with. In a world where I live in a simulation, it feels like The Killing was retroactively created to get me to finally love a Kubrick movie. Oh, and that ending is perfect. It's great watching a good plan fall apart. The stupider the reason, the better, so a tiny dog causing a poorly closed suitcase to break open is a lovely dagger.

 

I have a little hesitation with the movie. Mostly, I don't care for the narration. It feels a little lazy. And it's not interesting enough to make up for how much it feels like a shortcut. Then again, Kubrick uses it to keep the movie under 90 minutes. Do the ends justify the means?

 

If The Killing had a more anonymous director, I'd probably be more positive about it. It's a very solid heist filmnoir. Not my favorite, but certainly much more good than bad. Kubrick has an otherworldly reputation though, so making a B+/A- filmnoir feels like a bit of a disappointment. Give me some time. I'll probably warm up to this one even more once I accept what it is. On the plus side, there's the clever screenplay, good direction, and poetic ending. On the minus side, the narration annoyed me, and the performances were only fine.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend