Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Noir, noir, noir. Workperson next door helps mob gal break free, along with liberating some mob cash.
Biased, pithy comments: I can't say I thought every scene in the first half of the film was necessary; it seemed like they took a perfectly good noir film and threw some sex and almost-too-strong gore into it to pump up the ratings. Ironically, they had too good a movie to do that---they should have left it a little softer on that angle and kept the rest of this ugly, twisted pulp story. Even as you were repulsed by the characters, you are dragged into their claustrophobic world and totally worked up by the end---hanging on to every dangerous move. No one's motivations are pure or clear, but they end up being mostly consistent by the end. Gershon and Pantoliano are playing to type, but Tilly starts as the blond bombshell (dyed black to fit the rest of the color scheme; there are no colors but red, white, and black in the entire film) trying to make her helium voice sound husky and turns into hard obsidian. A good twist on a classic idea filmed very well.
Other Notes: Gina Gershon's smile is to die for. My wife kept rooting for Caesar. Strangely, these people also wrote the total dog ``Assassins.'' It seems like they saw what hash was made of their last script and decided to make their own film.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly, Joe Pantoliano.
Directed by: Andy and Larry Wachowski