DVD Review: Stressed To Kill

Don’t let the somewhat goofy title keep you from seeing Stressed To Kill. This is actually a good movie. It’s about a man who suffers a heart attack and is instructed by his doctor to remove causes of stress from his life. He then follows his doctor’s order.

When the movie opens, Bill Johnson (Bill Oberst Jr.) is in his car, unable to move forward because he’s blocked by people in the road. The guy behind him honks at him to go. Then he’s in line to purchase a movie ticket, but has to wait for two older women to decide whether the movie is the sort of thing they’d like to see. Bill is trying to remain restrained, but is clearly annoyed. I’m sure I’m not the only one who can immediately relate to this character. I’ve never been the most patient person and somehow it seems now more than ever the planet is populated by idiots with no awareness of or regard for others. Once inside the movie theater, he is bothered by two guys in front of him who are talking and looking at a cell phone. (It’s that very behavior that keeps me from frequenting movie theaters.) When Bill asks them politely to turn the phone off, they react belligerently. As we see Bill going about his day, he looks more and more like he’s going to snap, and when he begins to feel a heart attack coming on, the woman speaking loudly on the phone next to him in the elevator ignores his distress.

Bill’s doctor tells him he needs to cut down on his stress. Bill says there are “a lot of assholes out there, Doc.” The doctor tells him he needs to get the more persistent ones out of his life completely. Bill promises to do his best. And things begin to turn around when he witnesses the accidental death of one of those assholes (a man who’d spilled his drink on him without so much as an apology). This gives Bill an idea on how to relieve his stress. And he finds that eliminating these people actually does lower his blood pressure.

The problem is that his wife, Vera (Sonia Curtis), is one of the major causes of stress in his life. When he tells her he’s going back to work, she reminds him, “The doctor told you he wants you to avoid a stressful environment.” Bill responds, “That’s why I’m going back to work, sweetheart.” I love Bill Oberst’s honest, low-key delivery, which makes certain lines much funnier. One example is when his wife barges in on him without knocking and says, “Oh, sorry, did I interrupt you jerking off or something?” Bill responds: “No, I did that earlier. Now I’m planning our future.” His calm, matter-of-fact delivery is perfect. This movie does have some dark comedic elements without ever getting silly. The doctor tells Bill: “Whatever it is you’re doing seems to be working. Care to share your secret?” Bill replies: “Not yet. It’s still in the testing stage.”

The movie also follows the police investigation into the murders, an investigation led by Detective Paul Jordan (Armand Assante). Paul is an interesting character too, and when the two meet, things get weirder. Bill’s best friend Stan (Marshal Hilton) is also suffering from problems with a woman, and this leads them both deeper into trouble. Some of the acting in the film is a bit uneven, but Bill Oberst Jr. gives a great performance as Bill Johnson, and Armand Assante is at times captivating as Paul Jordan. This isn’t a great movie, but I was totally into it, and I have to admit I ended up kind of loving it.

Stressed To Kill was directed by Mark Savage, who also co-wrote the screenplay and was one of the producers. It was released on DVD on July 12, 2016 through MVD Visual. The DVD contains no special features.