Customer Reviews

Kiss Me Deadly

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had requested this on my Wish List after seeing the ad in Out magazine. Shannen Doherty in a spy movie with a gay main character promised campy, Spelling-style fun, and when someone bought it for my birthday, I was thrilled, settling in with a cosmo and prepared to giggle.

I was shocked. Yes, there were some funny moments, and Shannen did get to hiss out a couple of catty zingers in between gratuitous nudity of both genders. But the overall movie had a very serious tone, ramped up the action and suspense, and really held my attention. I found myself rooting for the good guys, and not just because the lead has a nice chest. This felt like a new kind of gay cinema, with quality writing and acting and a plot that had nothing to do with a gay man fighting bigotry. It was a spy movie first and foremost, and the spy happened to have a boyfriend, and it worked. I truly hope that film in the future can be as blase about sexuality. Truly great movie.

here! TV, America's first gay, lesbian and transgender television network, features many film projects featuring up-and-coming talent.

And with the popularity of the James Bond and Jason Bourne films, I'm sure the question had been posed, "What if there was a spy-action thriller film featuring a gay hero?".

here! films decided to do just that with a George Schenck and Frank Cardea film, directed by Ron Oliver featuring the first gay spy thriller featuring Jacob Keane (played by "Queer as Folk" actor Robert Gant).

The film starts off in Berlin with three agents in a mission. Jacob Keane (Grant), Marta (Shannen Doherty) and Jared (Fraser Brown) on an undercover mission that goes wrong. From then on, everyone goes there separate ways.

Years later, Jacob is now a professional photographer taking photos of models and you find out that his working partner at the photo studio is his boyfriend and he is gay.

On that same day, it is Jacob's weekend to take care of his daughter and the two have a specially planned weekend until he gets home and receives a message on his answering machine from Marta, who sounds disturbed and in trouble and needs to meet with him.

Jacob leaves his daughter with his former girlfriend or wife (who is shown to also be gay) and heads to the airport to find Marta and realizes that she is being followed. Once he meets Marta, something is wrong because she doesn't even recognize who she is.

Although Jacob and Marta have been out of the spy agency for years, someone wants them dead. The film becomes a cat and mouse chase as Jacob and Marta try to escape and outwit the thugs that are after them and try to find out why Marta lost her memory and who wants them dead.

"Kiss Me Deadly" is an action-packed spy thriller that delivers. The storyline is engaging and Robert Gant definitely is convingly cast as a gay spy hero and does a great job as Jacob Keane.

After watching "Beverly Hills 90210' actress Tori Spelling on here! films "Kiss the Bride", I admit that I was surprised to find another 90210 an actress, Shannen Doherty, in another here! films project. It's safe to say that Shannen Doherty's reputation of a diva is quite well documented in the television industry but after watching her for years on television in a variety of roles, I wasn't sure if I could picture her in a film that dealt with international espionage. But she did a pretty good job playing the character of "Marta".

The film also stars actor John Rhys-Davies who plays the character of Dale who once was part of the spy agency and a person who may have clues on why Marta has lost her memory.

I also found the scouting locations for this film, with the budget that the filmmakers had to work with well-thought out and planned. Filmed in New Zealand, just with certain shots, the viewer definitely gets a feeling of Europe and overall, you get that good feel of international espionage because of the beautiful scenery of the lush greenery to the cool and hip areas where the film was shot.

AUDIO & VIDEO:

The film was shot in digital and featured in widescreen 16×9. The audio selections are either digital 5.1 and 2.0.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The bonus features included on this DVD features a director's commentary by Ron Oliver. For film students, these are the kind of commentary you like to hear because Oliver definitely goes into details from casting, to props, you name it. Also, watching the film and having questions of certain scenes that he wishes he may or may have not used. So, the commentary definitely is worth listening to.

The "Backlot" is a 24-minute featurette featuring interviews with the cast members and how they saw the film, how it was working with the other cast members and working with director Ron Oliver. A really good behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film.

Special features also include the trailer for the film.

I was very entertained by this film. As a big fan of spy-action thrillers, I was really impressed with the storyline. There is a lot of action, it was well-acted and most of all, when it comes to this genre, you need a gripping storyline where the action continues from beginning to end. "Kiss Me Deadly" delivers!

Robert Gant is definitely in a position to be the first gay spy agent Jacob Keane and I hope this film series continues because it definitely breaks new ground for a film that is a gay spy hero. Again, I'm sure people wondered what if there was a gay version of James Bond or Jason Bourne and so, you have it with Jacob Keane.

As for Shannen Doherty, she did a pretty good job in this role. And I really think that when Doherty is paired with a director that is able to work with her, especially on the delivery of some lines (which Doherty gave her ideas to Oliver and Oliver was cool enough to listen), she can deliver.

As for the film, with a good international spy thriller, along with the action, you have to have good locations. And the film crew did a good job in capturing that European feel. So, that was another plus that I found with the film.

Although I did enjoy the film, I did find some scenes rather unnecessary. There was a scene where Jacob Keane needed to get rid of his cell phone and so he sees a young guy at the bar and they go to a bathroom stall to fool around and Jacob puts the cell phone in his coat pocket. Now would an agent like Jacob Keane really have to go that far to get rid of a phone?

Another scene was at the bath house, I just felt that there were shots of naked men there just for the sake of having it in the film. I didn't object to the bath house, I just felt that certain scenes in the bath house went far too long in terms of pacing.

The other little quirk I had was with the agency. The agency plays a big part in this film and whereas spy films such as a 007 film or a Jason Bourne film, you know that it exists and the director (played by Jonathan Colton) is trying to find out why the agency's former operatives are either dead or in trouble. You don't get that sense of urgency and the agency, although not a big part in this film, you just see it lingering and makes you wonder, how powerful is this agency? The director does show up in certain scenes especially an important part at the end of the film. But definitely will expect to see more interaction with the agency and Jacob Keane in future films.

Frankly, I feel that Ron Oliver did a great job directing this film and George Schenck and Frank Cardea really wrote a pretty good script. They really did a good job in crafting a film around a gay spy. The character of Jacob Keane is a character that I hope to see again because there is a lot of potential in this character for future sequels.

Definitely a film worth watching!

Honestly, I would probably give Kiss Me Deadly 3.75 stars. I rounded up because I love Robert Gant and Shannen Doherty too much to give them three stars. Both Gant and Doherty took their roles seriously and gave respect and care to their character that allowed the audience to have meaningful connection to them. Most of the actors did a superb job in this film, which made it truly fun to watch. The only real exception was a hot, muscle bound henchman who didn't seem to be able to deliver a line without yelling or thinking he was in a cheesy soap opera. The storyline itself wasn't top notch, but it definitely kept me entertained. While I doubt I will watch this movie more than three of four times in my life, I am glad to have it as a part of GBTL movie collection. This movie seemed like a set up to a series of `detective' movies with Gant, which makes me have high hopes for the ones that follow. Hopefully, the ones that are to come will feel a little less low-budget without loosing the heart of their characters.

This film was on the Here!cable channel and like "third man out" and the other donald strachey mysteries, this features a gay hero in the lead. I purchased this one mainly because of that leading man, Robert Gant, but was happy to see that the film stands on its own merits. The lead character Jacob Keane, played by Gant, is an ex spy who is pulled back into action. The movie contains great action sequences and Gant is up to the challenge to play a hero that is like a combination of James Bond and Jason Bourne, but still has his own personility and even a boyfriend. Though not a big fan of Shannon Doherty, I was quite surprised by her performance here and the chemistry that she and Gant has, not romantically but as partners, was great. Great acting, good action, and a good story that hopefully will lead to future franchise such as the Donald Strachey films.

Just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Jacob and Marta are trying to get safe passage for a Russian who wants to defect, but it all goes horribly wrong and the defector dies. Fast forward nearly 20 years and Jacob now lives the life of luxury in Milan with his lover Paolo and daughter Julia. But a call from Marta sends him to the train station only to discover that she has a tail and no memory of him or her life. As they try to solve the mystery, the bad guys are at every turn. Will they be able to uncover the mystery before they are silenced too?

This movie is totally low budget and it shows. Supposedly set in Germany, Italy and Switzerland, all the vibrant cities look like the same anonymous grey Canadian city as a stand in. Robert Gant, usually such a great presence on film comes across as wooden and unemotional - particularly in a key scene which begs for emotion. The dialogue is bland and cheesy, the plot completely predictable, any semblance of action (this is an action film, isn't it?) is missing, and my biggest gripe - they haven't seen each other since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and neither has aged one iota (at least Doherty's cheesy wig was left behind). And worst of all, the door is left open for another installment. No thanks, I'll stick with Oliver's much better Strachey mysteries.

I wanted to like this movie. First, I have enjoyed Robert Gant and Shannen Doherty in other roles and the premise sounded cool - two ex-spys, one has amnesia and people are trying to kill them. Throw in the fact the lead is a gay Jason Bourne and it sounded like a winner.

It's not.

While I liked Shannen Doherty's performance, she was the only thing in the movie I liked. Jacob (Robert Gant), while lovely to look at, his character fell flat. I was so hoping the director, Ron Oliver would find the type of chemistry between Gant and his partner that he found in The Donald Strachey Mysteries with Donald and Timmy -- but he did not! Jacob's partner was just a twink who was disposable to the plot and could barely speak English. I was very disappointed by that aspect, add a daughter he fathered by a lesbian friend, and the plot became a bad Lifetime movie.

To conclude: a predictable plot, bad acting and no chemistry between the leading men and considering this was promoted as a "gay-themed" movie, that means it utterly missed the mark.

Rent, don't buy.

Shannen may not be the best actress around, but since I like her so much - she will always be the best as far as I'm concerned. Honestly - I bought most of her dvd-movies simply because she was the lead actor. I had a great time watching her movies!

This film I found surprisingly dark in tone - and all the better for it. The opening sequence sets up the John Le Carre type approach to the story, and then we get the usual flashbacks, different locations, etc. that a spy story should have. The acting was fine, the bath-house scene just about appropriate, and it's one that I have kept to see again.

Robert Gant is great in this part, nice to see Gay character in a movie, without being a stereo type.

i only gave it two stars because of Robert Gant he is a sexy beast....