The Merry Gentleman ***

Michael Keaton's directorial debut is a praiseworthy success. Too bad this film was not available to many audiences. It's a story about Kate, a woman who has left her physically abusive husband and begins a new life in Chicago. One night, as she's leaving work, she spots someone in shadow standing on the ledge of a building. Thinking he is about to kill himself, she cries out, and he falls backward onto the roof. That man is Frank Logan, a professional hitman who had actually just shot someone a few stories above her. Frank and Kate meet face to face on another occassion and develop a strange bond to one another. Then Kate's husband returns. I will not reveal anything beyond this point except that my initial impression was that the ending disappointed me. When I thought more about it, however, it was probably the only conclusion that made any real sense.