I Love You to Death DVD with Kevin Kline, Tracy Ullman, Keanu Reeves (R) +Movie Reviews

A wonderfully bent comedy--based on a true story!

Long Island, East, member | USA | 08/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This tale is about a highly energetic husband (Kevin Kline) who works and runs a pizza store next to his and his wife's rental apartment. His wife, who has glorified her productive husband as her knight in shining armor, suddenly is confronted with the fact that he has been cheating on her--with more than one woman. So...she sets off to kill him, only that turns into
an hilarious set of misadventures, in itself. Kline and Tracy Ullman make a great team. The script is fun and moves quite quickly. Look forward to our favorite additional character: the husband's mother-in-law. As I've said before, this story is based on a true couple. He was cheating, running a pizzaria; and she had problems trying to bump him off. She went to trial, he was still alive and more than survived. She and he, as far as I can tell from last updates, are
still married and living happily together. From a talkshow interview, he claimed that the fury of his wife's attempts helped
to make him a better man. Go for the comedy movie!"

The Real Skinny

George Charles | Penna., USA | 02/09/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This movie is based on the real life antics that occurred here in Allentown, Pa. to a friend of mine, his family and employees.

Here's the story: "When Anthony Toto, 37, a pizza-shop owner in Allentown, Pa., put up $50,000 bail for his wife Frances Lenore, the local police and others in the community were stunned. The reason: according to charges filed by the district attorney, Frances had conspired to murder her husband -- not once but twice.

The bizarre case began on Jan. 25. That night, prosecutors contend, Anthony Bruno, the 20-year-old boyfriend of Toto's 17-year-old daughter Elizabeth, crept into Toto's bedroom, located the .25-cal. gun that Toto kept near his bed and fired a bullet into his head. Toto was grievously but not fatally wounded.

Then his wife Frances allegedly began force-feeding him large doses of barbiturates, which succeeded only in putting him into a semiconscious state. Two days later, according to police, two friends of Anthony Bruno's, hired by Frances for $500, showed up in the bedroom to finish the job. They were Ronald Barlip, 19, and his cousin Donald, 18. The bullet one of them allegedly fired entered an inch from Toto's heart, but it too proved not to be lethal.

Police, tipped off by an informant, entered the Toto house two days later and found Toto asleep, breathing heavily: doctors later speculated that the barbiturates he had been given may have saved his life by drastically lowering his metabolism and retarding the bleeding.

Police arrested Frances, Bruno, the Barlips and the two Toto children, Elizabeth and Anthony. Toto was released from the hospital two weeks later, with the first bullet still lodged in his skull. He says he intends to stand by his family during the coming court proceedings. Said an Allentown police detective: "He loves her." The district attorney's office is said to be worried about the case: Tony Toto promises to be a hostile witness." Tony's wife was found guilty and sentenced to time in Muncy, Pa. women's correctional facility. Tony moved the family there to be near her. Art and Linda Beers wrote the non-fiction book that was bought for the movie. After coming out to L.A. to do the screenplay, they were ripped off for all their efforts by not getting any credit for their work. The credit for it went to John Kostmayer who didn't do the real digging for the story, he just adjusted the work of the Beers'.

"

SITCOM-STYLE COMEDY OF MISADVENTURES WITH APPEALING CAMEOS..

Shashank Tripathi | Gadabout | 07/08/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I take off one star for the somewhat slight theme based on the true but quaint counter-intuitive romance of a couple whose marriage was revitalized after the wife almost succeeded in murdering her husband. But it comes with some brilliant cameos from some big names: Kline as an Italian pizza shop owner, William Hurt and Keanu Reeves as spaced out druggies, Plowright a staunch mother with a thick Yugoslavian accent and extremely funny, and an absolutely pivotal wife's role played by Ulman, who finds the stubborn vindictiveness inside her character, sunny and trusting one moment and unforgiving and brutal the next. It's not an astounding comedy and some gags are hit-and-miss, but as a saving grace the film is well-paced. The DVD I got features trailers for three other movies (go figure) but I still recommend this one as a decent rental."

Take The Family...Please!

Gregor von Kallahann | 08/25/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I hadn't really studied the package that closely, but as the opening credits were playing, I couldn't help but think, "Wow! This is, like, the dream cast." I knew, of course, that it featured Tracey Ullman and Kevin Kline as the leads. But Joan Plowright! River Phoenix (what a tragic loss)! William Hurt! They even squeezed character actress Miryam Margolies. And, of course, you've got Keanu Reeves in yet another stoner role, but you know, you gotta give Keanu credit. No one did those roles better. He is spot on here.

A black comedy based on actual events? Hmm, how often do you come across something of that ilk? It is, as many reviewers have noted, something less than a complete success, and there were actually moments when I was ready to give up on it. Some of the shifts were just too abrupt. But if it falters here and there, the movie seems to somehow pick itself right back up again. The arrival of drugged out Harlan and Marlon (Hurt and Reeves) comes at one such lull and their presence gives the film a shot in the arm (no pun intended).

Not all of the gags work, of course, but the stellar cast is always worth watching. If you've ever wondered whether Tracey Ullman was more of a sketch comedian than an actress, her performance here should lay any such doubts to rest. As her mom, Joan Plowright is an absolute hoot. I can't tell for sure whether this legendary British actress's "Yugoslavian" accent is as flawless as countrywoman Ullman's "all-American" one, but she is so priceless, I can't imagine even the proudest Croatian critic arguing the point.

What of the "actual events" on which this is based? Apparently, the movie gets the gist of it, maybe more. Apparently, the Pennsylvania couple on which these seemingly impossible characters are based really did go through all of this and were still together last anyone knew. And the hubby really did change his wayward ways after his wife's multiple attempts to murder him. One discrepancy that I did read about, however, was that she really did wind up serving some time. But call that cinematic license.

There is at least an interesting subtext about Old World values and codes, and how they can justify all kinds of "outrageous" behavior (by contemporary US standards), while still seeming to be fundamentally "conservative" in nature. But that's for a doctoral dissertation or something. For our present purposes, let's just say that this oddball dark comedy is one worth seeing."

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