Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With a foreigner's revitalizing influence, German director Volker Schlondorff turns this standard potboiler (based on the novel Just Another Sucker by British pulp writer James Hadley Chase) into a beguiling exercise in genre classicism. Woody Harrelson stars as a former journalist, just released from serving two years on a trumped-up charge, who is drawn into a troublesome mock-extortion scheme by the scheming wife (Elisabeth Shue) of a dying Florida millionaire. The movie's got style to spare and plenty of humid Florida atmosphere, but it's built on a series of improbable developments and is too low-key to generate riveting momentum. But Schlondorff occupies this tawdry territory with a keen sense of necessary mood and pace, maintaining adequate internal logic and awareness of the story's vintage roots. Subplots involving Shue's stepdaughter (Chloë Sevigny) and Harrelson's girlfriend (Gina Gershon) provide enjoyable distractions from the story's implausibilities. The movie's better suited to the fertile pulp mills of cable TV. But with an absurdly twisting plot to hold your interest, it's fun to watch how Schlondorff builds a bridge between traditional film noir and a more contemporary approach to sultry intrigue. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely brilliant. How about a Special Edition?, June 12, 2000

By 

Barry - See all my reviews

This review is from: Palmetto (DVD)

I own this masterful thriller and absolutely covet it. Probably my all time favorite thriller/film noir. A perfect example of steamy, teasing, dark femme fatale film noir classic. Excellent script, direction and acting. Some people who say the film is "too over-the-top" are missing the point and don't realize it's that way on purpose. That's the whole film noir/femme fatale genre, folks. Roll with it. Get caught up in the fake kidnapping scheme and the surprise twists and it's a roller coaster ride! I love it and will always love it. One question: WHEN is the Special Edition gonna come out, with Director's and Actors' Commentary, Behind-The-Scenes (I BEG YOU) and many other features? A film this great deserves a Special Edition DVD. People at Castle Rock: PLEASE issue another DVD version.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How could you not like this movie, January 31, 2002

By 

Umberto Guiermo (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Palmetto (DVD)

This is one of the most fun movies I have ever seen. It has everything I need. Heat, murder, comedy, and there is an element of fantasy that makes me want to see this movie when I want to escape. Buy It!!!

Make more movies like this one Hollywood. And make more in Florida. It's just better that California.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Semi-Noir Mystery-Comedy that is truly entertaining !!!, September 18, 2005

By 

The Jaundiced Eye (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Palmetto (DVD)

Much has been said about how German director, Volker Schlondorff with the able assistance of American screenwriter E. Max Frye, infused this rather conventional plot with some wonderful, completely original elements. My personal favorites are:

1) Woody Harrelson portrays (quite well) a "normal", fallible person, Harry Barber (even his name is conflicted and clever), in a completely abnormal (but admittedly self-inflicted) situation. He is often clumsy in his attempts to be cool....he cannot resist seductive women or easy money....and he ends up a comic loser (again and again), rather than emerging as the traditional stoic, humorless hero/victim. Harry can't resist Elizabeth's charms (or tongue) even while suspended over a vat of acid, seconds from a hideous death, while his girlfriend (played by Gina Gershon) is nearby and watching!!! Indeed, he is an anti-hero with whom virtually anyone in the audience can relate....his antics are human, believable, and at times hilarious.

2) Elizabeth Shue, in addition to being one of the sexiest, nastiest women on God's earth, is also a superb comic actress, in the Carole Lombard tradition. Her flights of fancy, wierd expressions, and overall daffiness are a great change of pace. Compare her to Kathleen Turner in "Body Heat" and see who portrays a more interesting character....Kathleen is cold and infallible, while you never know what to expect next from Elizabeth. Watch her expressions and behavior closely in the last scene in which she appears....what is she thinking??? I personally find this complexity much more entertaining...and plausible. And let's face it, anyone involved in a sinister plot such as this would have to be at least half insane.

I strongly recommend this movie to all mature viewers who appreciate a change of pace from the traditional "film noir"....it is extremely original, fiendishly clever, funny as heck, and thoroughly entertaining.