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I Trust You to Kill Me (R)





Release Date: September 8th, 2006 (Landmark Sunshine Cinemas) by First Independent Pictures.
Directed by Manu Boyer.

BASIC PREMISE: A documentary about the first international tour of rock band Rocco DeLuca & The Burden.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: I Trust You to Kill Me, which is also the title of the band’s first album, is essentially two documentaries in one, which makes it quite schizophrenic. One the one hand, it follows Rocco DeLuca & The Burden through their tour in various small venues in Europe, such as in London, Berlin, Dublin and Reykjavik. At the same time, it follows Kiefer Sutherland’s adventures as their road manager beginning from the set of 24 through the Eurotrip. Sutherland not only promotes the band in every way possible, but he also makes this documentary quite lively and entertaining. He’s actually much more interesting and bears his soul more than the band leader himself, Rocco DeLuca and the rest of his crew such as Dave Beste, Greg Velasquez and Ryan Carman. Granted, they all have plenty of talent---DeLuca certainly has a unique voice and if you’re a fan of the band or of rock music, you’ll enjoy the concert footage. Deluca only talks briefly to the camera about what inspires him to sing, which doesn’t quite bring him to life. It would have been interesting to get some footage from local fan’s reactions after the show. Also, why did Sutherland get fired as the road manager and what were his reactions to that? Director Manu Boyer often cuts to more scenes with Sutherland as he loses his cell-phone and wallet, for example, or goes to bars trying to convince people to show up to a free concert and even jumps into a small Christmas tree. In a somewhat funny scene, he claims that earlier in the day, only two people bought tickets to their show. On a technical level, I Trust You to Kill Me looks great for a film shot on digital video and includes impressive fast-paced editing which makes it quite stylish and easy to watch.

SPIRITUAL VALUE: Surprisingly, a few scenes in this film feel like a way for Kiefer Sutherland to get some self-therapy. He admits that through most of his life, he has acted like a child. Now, at the age of 39, after two failed marriages, he’s finally growing up and trying to face harsh reality to some degree—such as accepting the fact that some people will hate him by tattooing “I Trust You To Kill Me” in Icelandic on his arm. In a quite revelatory scene, he confesses that he feels spoiled. Perhaps Sutherland would profoundly benefit from a separate documentary just about himself.

INSULT TO YOUR INTELLIGENCE: Unfocused and somewhat dull.

NUMBER OF TIMES I CHECKED MY WATCH: 2

IN A NUTSHELL: Funny and somewhat lively with great music and editing, but ultimately unfocused, uninformative and lacking in sufficient insight into the actual band itself.

RECOMMENDED WAY TO WATCH: VHS/DVD


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