Please Kill Mr. Know It All

"Yeah, Albert's gonna make sure that little weasel has sung his last song."

"Weasels don't sing."

"What?"

"A canary sings, not a weasel. You're mixing your metaphors."

Sally (Chorostecki) is a writer, working on her first novel.  To pay the bills, she writes the advice column in the local paper under the pseudonym of "Mr. Know It All".  A celebrity (Tom Wilson) endorsement skyrockets the popularity of the column.  To capitalize on the success of the column the paper wants to publish a picture of the author.  Unfortunately Sally's best friend Patti (Pesic) lied about the identity of Mr. Know It All and everyone believes a man writes the column.  Sally sketches a handsome man she observes at the movies, and soon the sketch is everywhere.

Albert (Brown), the man in the sketch, is a contract killer.  He is one hit away from paying off a debt to the Mob Boss (Sapienza).  His job becomes more difficult as he is recognized everywhere, so he resolves to find and kill Mr. Know It All.  Meanwhile, Sally and Patti are under pressure to produce Mr. Know It All for an interview and begin a casting call to find a suitable stand in.  When Albert comes in the sparks fly, can Sally and Albert find love while hiding their real professions?


I stumbled upon this film on AmazonPrime.  It looked promising (even though I couldn't find a trailer) and I gave it a chance. The film is written, co-directed, and produced by Sandra Feldman.  This film marks her second time as a writer, director, producer (2009's A Touch of Grey), she is better known as a stunt woman.  Her co-director, Colin Carter, normally works in visual effects, and previously directed a documentary (2009's Fight for the Planet).

It is a quirky comedy, predictable and formulaic but with enough laughs to keep you invested.  Only five of the characters have names, and they are the only ones that get fleshed out, the rest function as specific types / personalities.  Despite that, the funniest characters are the clueless henchmen portrayed by Billy MacLellan and Pedro Miguel Arce.  They only appear in a few scenes, but definitely make an impression.  They have ridiculous conversations that completely miss the point, but their dynamic and chemistry is hilarious (especially towards the end of the film).  The cast are not well-known to American audiences, but they all work well here.  Lara Jean Chorostecki plays her character well, keeping her from veering into annoying.  Her Sally has a great deal of useless knowledge that she shares throughout the film, but never plays that to the extreme.  She has good chemistry with Jefferson Brown.  Brown has the difficult job of making Albert a remorseless killer, while still make the audience fall in love with him, which he makes to pull off.  Kristina Pesic and Cliff Saunders are hilarious as their best friends.

It is a little indie film that definitely won't appeal to the broad audience, but it was an entertaining ride.

Please Kill Mr. Know It All (2012) 87 minutes
Director: Colin Carter & Sandra Feldman
Starring: Lara Jean Chorostecki as Sally
Jefferson Brown as Albert
Kristina Pesic as Patti
Cliff Saunders as Bud
Al Sapienza as Mob Boss
Billy MacLellan as Henchman #1
Pedro Miguel Arce as Henchman #2
Dylan Roberts as One Legged Man