From my favorite movies..

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Nicholas Cage has been responsible for more than his fair share of bad acting, but never worse than he is in this. Possibly no-one in the history of cinema has gone so far over the top as Cage does in this heinous performance.

Joe (Michael Biehn) learned grifting from his father Mike Donan (James Coburn). In his final deadly con, Joe is supposed to shoot him with a blank but the bullet turns out to be real. As Joe looks into his mysterious unknown life, Joe discovers his money had been stolen by his twin Lou (James Coburn). Eddie (Nicolas Cage) and Diane (Sarah Trigger) work for Lou.This tries to be a noirish crime drama. It never gets to feel real. From the bullet onwards, there are obvious questions left hanging. There are jumps in logic. There are easy conveniences. Then there is Nicolas Cage. His is a fake character gone too far. He's insane bothering on a cartoon. The movie stops being a real thing. Everything is in question and Joe is too dumb in not asking them. The con becomes a mess and none of it matters. The whole movie is a mess.

There is so much true 1940's film noir feel underlying the slightly desaturated color; the ending especially. I would go so far as to say this is a Neo-Noir film due to the weaving of twisting of the characters lunacy, namely Eddy, Played by Nicholas Cage. Richard Widmark has played some wild, out of control villains, who moved from one thought so dangerously that were hinging off of the edge of your seat and his just to see what might happen next. Cage has continued to build a wonderful collection of original characters who entertain and thrill on many levels, and this film gave him the story framework to do a little glassblowing using every color in the rainbow, into very hot glass. The production design was idiomatically very thoughtful and flowed seamlessly from one scene to the next. This picture knew the importance of the location in this noirish tale as never backdrop, but character inspiring the events and interactions. I can only think how fun it must have been to introduce characters such as Dr. Lyme into the story, something a bit James Bond fantastic, but hey, I've seen some freakish dudes in the East Bronx who did business with his, uh, cutting precision. Sarah Trigger and Michael Biehn had good chemistry, and maybe bee more flirtatious with the lens, they played so pretty I almost wanted to remind how seamy the other characters around them were. Wonderful to hear Talia Shire's beautiful voice up close, something you don't get to do too often...James Coburn turned in a stellar menacing performance, Peter Fonda, nice cameo flavor...Charlie Sheen brought the smooth and delivered it well in the most fitting red velvet smoking jacket. Smoking Jackets - Merry go Rounds - a death scene that surpasses the Coen bros wood chipper in Fargo A FRYOLATOR - I'll recover, these are the sights that will meld in a haze of twirling smoke for me. But I like to sum things up with this line from Joe in a classic Sam Spade moment, realizing the greatest con of all..."That photo was the hook that sent me deeper into the shadows, squinting for the truth". Watch it to find out! P.S. looking for more cult coverage here.

Michael Biehn was the only saving grace in this movie. I don't know how Cage got anymore jobs after his performance, of course he only had to work with what the writers gave him. Maybe if the writers had taken the time to write a better script, then maybe the movie would have been better. I've seen most of the actors and actresses in other films, and I was surprised by all of their performances. I don't think any of them had much to work with. Again, the fault lays with the writers. I really felt sorry for the actors. And I wanted to cry for Michael Biehn. He is such a great actor, under rated, but great. He, as well as the other actors, didn't stand a chance with this film.