I Trust You to Kill Me: Critic Reviews

Even when he looks like a complete dolt, Sutherland still comes off sympathetically, as a cool guy.

That Rocco DeLuca and the Burden are attached to Kiefer Sutherland is the only discernible reason for the existence of Manu Boyer's inconsequential documentary.

Perhaps you are wondering why a little-known band called Rocco DeLuca and the Burden merits a glossy feature-length documentary of its whirlwind European tour. After watching Manu Boyer's film, you may still wonder.

More vanity project than full-fledged film, Manu Boyer's modest chronicle is best left to diehard Kiefer Sutherland fans.

At its frequent best, the artfully crafted doc earns respect as an insightful and arresting behind-the-scenes look at what any band must endure to make that first lunge at the brass ring.

A European tour by Rocco DeLuca and the Burden, an utterly generic blues-rock bar band that Sutherland thinks is brilliant, is the subject of the film.

A home movie masquerading as a feature documentary.

I Trust You to Kill Me has enough virtues -- principally Sutherland's presence and the quality of the music -- to make it an enjoyable trip.

... it seems as though Boyer started out wanting to document a struggling band's rise to stardom and quickly lost interest in them at the sight of a more famous personality.

...it's difficult to overlook the film's sporadic bursts of effectiveness (including, of course, the infamous episode in which Sutherland drunkenly tackles a Christmas tree).

elusive and distant

It doesn't seem like a single scene was filmed without the main characters being aware that the cameras were on, and there is almost no dramatic tension.

He's cute, the film's cute and the band's more than competent. What more do you want from something like this?

A rather standard out-on-the-road rock doc except for one unique and under-explored twist: The 24 star, after signing the band to his label, impulsively decided to accompany them on this barnstorming adventure as their tour manager.

Boyer dutifully follows Sutherland and the band around hotels, and documents a series of shows, devoting generous screen time to DeLuca's tormented repertory, but overall the drama stays between the lines.