good back-story, and good acting

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Decent thriller has a basic story of double-dealing partners with different agendas and bribery of a judge with a gambling problem. Ellen Barkin, Laurence Fishburne and Frank Langella are the principals involved in an organization that specializes in blackmail and bribery schemes, with double crosses thrown in for good measure. A key element in the picture is the offer of a bribe to a judge for his vote in a controversial court case, with the predictable drama and mystery following thereafter. The film also has wild sex scenes that are intended to add spice to a complicated mystery involving shadowy CIA and espionage figures. Gia Carides has a key supporting role as the judge's mistress who later acts out her part of a woman bent on payback. Remainder of the cast is okay and the tech credits are fine.

I won't bore you with the plot. Except to say it's not any more believable than the acting. Most of the cast seemed to be capable of acting but the juvenile script and direction make it a waste of time. This movie sucks on so many different levels it never had a chance. I was almost embarrassed to watch it. The way you would be embarrassed to see a friend make a fool of himself when he was drunk. Like seeing someone at a very low point in his or her life. After watching it I had to look up what Ebert said about it and marvel at the fact he liked it. Most movies these days are awful. I guess if you're movie reviewer you can't write bad reviews on everything. At the end I thought it might have a twist to save it somewhat. But it turned out the end was just as bad as the rest of it

I saw the film when it was first released. Recently it showed up on cable and decided to take a second look. As it was my impression then, I still think this elegant thriller could have used a more logical plot because there are many questions that even a second glance doesn't answer.The film owes a great deal to the stylish production it was given by director Damian Harris and his team. The Vancouver location doesn't take away from Seattle, where it's supposed to take place. The excellent cinematography of Jack N. Green adds dimension to the movie.Laurence Fishburne, as the cool Nelson Crowe, is a major asset to the picture. So is Ellen Barkin, an actress that is always good to watch and is sadly missed from the screen, as she hasn't made a film in years. Frank Langella, Michael Beach, and above all, Gia Carides, made tremendous contribution to the film.

This yawner of a thriller stars Frank Langella and Ellen Barkin as the operators of a company that specializes in letting former secret agents commit corporate crimes. Laurence "Larry" Fishburne portrays Nelson Crowe, the former CIA agent who's the company's most recent recruit. A series of bizarre and not all that exciting situations follow as Langella and Barkin band together to find out just what their latest recruit's story really is. It all adds up to one of the slowest thrillers ever.