For the moment, we’re going to look at a bit of a Jerry and Tom-related note. For those of you disinclined to click the link above, Jerry and Tom follows the story of two hitmen (what ever could their names be?). Tom and Jerry are regular guys, raising families, trying to bring home a paycheck and cheer their kids on at Little League games and take a relaxing vacation in Florida. So what if their day job happens to involve a little bit, okay, a lot of murder? It’s all in a day’s work, right? The guys start to run into problems when Jerry decides that he wants to add some flair to his methods, that he doesn’t want to play by the rules or code of honor. Jerry starts to get sloppy, the pressure begins to wear away at Tom, and when they can’t shake the pressures of the job, things are bound to end badly.

So much for a glimpse. Now. Tom throws an interesting reference into the mix of the play: when Ronald Reagan comes up in conversation, Tom mentions The Killers.  A 1964 film directed by Don Siegel, The Killers holds some basis in a Hemingway story and in an earlier film, but apparently (so sources tell; I’ve not yet seen the movie myself and so must trust to second-hand accounts, alas) is notable for its particular focus: rather than shroud the contract killers in some sort of sneaky mystery, the ‘64 film blows open the secrecy and focuses on the lead killers and their ruthless search for answers, offering a close encounter with hitmen on the job.

The Killers employs many of the elements found also in Jerry and Tom: auto repair shops, a trip to Miami, and an older and more serious killer paired with a younger and somewhat odd (one might say “off”) partner. These connections aren’t particularly unique, perhaps, but they’re interesting to note.

And there’s something else. The movie opens with a contract killing, and much of the film centers around the efforts of two hitmen (one older and more serious, one younger and a bit, ah, off) to determine the story of the man they killed, and to discover why he didn’t flinch from death. Turns out that the victim was once a successful race car driver, a man who had his life firmly in hand but became entangled with a girl and the mob, found himself in over his head, lost control of his career, and became a low-level auto repair instructor who resigned himself to accepting death. Keep that one in mind as you watch the play, or if you have a chance to read it. There might well be more to the reference than a quick glance would suggest.

But that’s often the case, non?

-Kristi