Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson reunite on screen for the first time since Pulp Fiction in a breezy black comedy that skewers the pompous art world. The Kill Room has a desperate, Adderall-addicted gallery owner, a beholden hitman, and a Black Jewish baker embroiled in a money-laundering scheme for the mob that hilariously spirals out of control. Graphic murders get an unexpected avant-garde display when fancy elites are enamored by the brutal honesty. The glaring spotlight on their illicit activities stirs up big trouble and forces the mismatched protagonists to concoct an even wackier escape strategy.
Patrice Capullo (Thurman) snorts Adderall off her office desk while a new intern struggles to get customers to the art gallery. Leslie (Amy Keum) brings a stack of bills, collection notices, and credit warnings to her broke boss. A once darling of the New York City art scene has become a bust who’s mocked by her society snob colleagues. The day gets more aggravating with two visitors. Grace (Maya Hawke) wonders why her art isn’t selling. Nate (Matthew Maher), her goofy drug dealer, needs money if she wants more pills. Patrice convinces him to take a painting as a payment.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, Reggie (Joe Manganiello) completes another hit job in his trademark style. He suffocates people to death with plastic shopping bags. Pay your mafia loans or face the consequences. Reggie returns to the Neptune Bakery after the murderous deed. Gordon (Jackson) wonders aloud how they’re going to continue doing business for their bosses. They need to figure out a new way to clean the money. The answer presents itself to Gordon when he swings by Nate for a collection and sees the hideous painting.
Patrice and the Bagman
Shout! Studios
Patrice isn’t happy to see someone like Gordon walk through her door. But his offer proves to be enticing after more embarrassing slights as a has-been. The question then remains: where will they get the paintings? Gordon buys Reggie art supplies and tells the befuddled killer to just paint anything. Who cares if you don’t have a clue how to draw? It’s simply a means to an end. Gordon delivers the ghastly creation to Patrice who wonders who drew it. He casually replies to call the anonymous painter “The Bagman.”
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The Kill Room’s plot thickens within mere minutes of the premise established in a short open. You can see it coming from a mile away. Reggie’s paintings, canvas tools of larceny, become an instant sensation clamored for by hoity-toity collectors. Who is this mysterious Bagman that has taken New York by storm? Patrice revels in her comeback but doesn’t have a clue about Reggie or how he gets his inspiration. She thinks they’re drug dealers like the idiotic Nate. Gordon is utterly stupefied to learn that people are interested in buying — drumroll please — “Smurf diarrhea.” The bosses will make them all disappear with the unwanted attention.
The film pulls no punches showing Reggie in bloody plastic bag action. It’s not pretty, to say the least. The rub is that he’s not a crazed psychopath but indebted to the mob like Gordon. Reggie’s filled multiple morgues, but he’s really just a misunderstood guy stuck in a terrible situation. The gallows humor actually works with a somewhat endearing performance from Manganiello. He’s squeezing the life out of a flailing victim, painting in the aftermath, and expressing himself in an artistic way. A friendship develops with Patrice that drives the narrative. Her discovery of the artworks’ true meaning had me laughing out loud.
The Black Dreidel
Shout! Studios
Jackson, who also gets a nickname, “The Black Dreidel,” by culturally insensitive mobsters mocking his embrace of Judaism, is in standard form here. He liberally sprinkles f-bombs and mother-effers like flour when baking Bialys. The good news is that Gordon, like Reggie, is personable despite his constant stream of profanity. There’s a lot of ham to the performance, but it fits in the context of the story, yarmulke and all.
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Thurman entertains bouncing between the highbrow and criminals. Some of the best scenes are her interactions with the gullible moneyed. Director Nicol Paone (Friendsgiving) delights in lampooning the rich buyers, their sycophants, and sniveling gallery assistants. It doesn’t matter if the art is good or not. They desire Reggie’s paintings because Patrice convinces them it’s a status symbol. Unchecked egos are on laughable display as pockets open deep for a prized Bagman.
Screenwriter Jonathan Jacobson deserves credit for an unpredictable climax. His story doesn’t run out of steam. Patrice isn’t a foolish character. She has a brain and uses it to great effect in a fun ending. The Kill Room succeeds with sharp humor, cast chemistry, and enjoyable pacing. Thurman and Jackson are still good onscreen together after 30 years.
The Kill Room is produced by Yale Productions and Idiot Savant Pictures. It will be released theatrically on September 29th from Shout! Studios.
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