Wolff rating: EXCELLENT
Plot summary: Anti-corruption DA starts tracking a case of mafia hits.
Biased, pithy comments: That's not much of a plot summary, and that's the point of this review. This is a romance in manner of one you'd pull off the shelf in a bookstore, only a really *good* one. The plot is a take-it-or-leave it combination of basically bad guys and basically good guys who are beginning to look the same, but it goes by so quick (and in such a thick Louisiana drawl) you begin to realize that it doesn't matter much. The best part of the movie is the chemistry between our heroine and our hero. Quaid seems at his best bopping around New Orleans and Barkin plays the straightlaced DA with good quirks; watching emotions go by on her face is fascinating, and the clownish gag of getting clutzy as she gets more nervous pays off with some understated laughs. Support work (by a slightly lighter Goodman and the skilled Persky) seems like it is done by a group of people who are having a good time. Some reviewers seem to find this show a little too breezy, but they're like people who went to see ``Stargate'' for its plot---this movie is about character and style, and it has them both.
Other Notes: Yes, this movie is over 10 years old, but it's still really, really good.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Dennis Quad, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, Lisa Jane Persky, Ned Beatty.
Directed by: Jim McBride