Is David Fincher’s ‘The Killer’ a Comedy?

Welcome to the (maybe) most misunderstood movie of the year.

Given his penchant for ultra-dark cinematography, twisted characters, and brutal endings, it’s easy to forget that David Fincher is more than capable of slipping a comedic beat or two into his movies. A murderer’s use of an ultra-sappy Enya song during a torture sequence in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” or Kevin Spacey’s bone-dry witticisms in “Seven,” are just two examples of Fincher lightening the mood a tad.

Fincher’s latest film, “The Killer,” likewise features some funny bits: the titular assassin’s use of sitcom characters’ names on his fake IDs, or how he turns to Amazon to instantly order a device that will allow him to bypass a building’s supposedly ironclad security. But is the movie an outright comedy? That’s a question I keep turning over in my mind.

At least on the surface, “The Killer” plays like the latest in a long line of existential assassin movies extending back to “Le Samourai” and beyond. The Killer is alone, isolated from the rest of society, and utterly consumed by the minutiae of his work. When he botches a hit, his employer sends other assassins to annihilate him. The rest, as you might expect, is a series of gunfights and stealthy maneuvers as he tries to extract himself from the consequences…