I Love You to Death (1990) review

Pizzeria owner Joey Boca (Kevin Kline) cannot stop cheating on his wife Rosalie (Tracey Ullman) - one of his employees, Devo (River Phoenix), tries to warn her about it - but after she catches him with another woman at the library her and her mother Nadja (Joan Plowright) come up with a variety of ways to try to kill him, including lacing his pasta sauce with sleeping pills and then, when that doesn't do the trick, they hire two klutzy addicts (William Hurt and Keanu Reeves) to shoot him.  This is actually based on a true story - the events took place near where I live and I was even able to meet the real Tony Toto decades ago - and while it sounds like it might be a wild black comedy (especially considering the cast) it doesn't work and is entirely too belabored (although there are some good one-liners).  I think the main issue is with the tone: watching Joey eagerly commit adultery (despite having a loving spouse) is repellent in itself ... and then seeing Rosalie seeking revenge multiple times over is also vile - with all due respect to Mr. Kasdan, this most likely needed a darker soul behind the camera.  And yet the wildest part is that in February of 2023, Allentown-based TV station WFMZ did a follow up ... and the couple are still together (and have been for 57 years). That's ... amore?