8/10
It's a good old movie, this.
A tangled web of good cop/bad cop (without the good cops) and gangland underhandedness, it marked the launching point for the careers of Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe, who went on to Memento and Gladiator soon afterwards.
They are joined by ever reliable guys Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito as well as James Cromwell in a rare "dude, where's my accent?" mode.
There's only one femme fatale in this modern noir and its the classic beauty that is (ok, was) Kim Basinger. She's great too.
Despite Cromwell's blink and you missed it accent the performances are top notch, as is the setting and shooting, conjuring up a real sense of time and sleazy place. The twist is when it comes as obvious as the ending to The Parent Trap (and the exact scene, off-puttingly enough, was stolen wholesale for Minority Report, which I saw first) but this is a minor issue, we always know the good guys are getting gypped - so what else is new?
While the coldness of its characters and the lack of a simple "yay! bad guys dead!" ending may put some off, I am confident this is another modern noir which will live on.
Great to be back watching some good films!
A
Saturday, December 13, 2008
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