Kiss of Death (1995)
Most recently screened in May 2015
Director: Barbet Schroeder. Cast: David Caruso, Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Stanley Tucci, Michael Rapaport, Helen Hunt, Kathryn Erbe, John Costelloe, Ving Rhames, Anne Meara, Anthony Heald, Philip Baker Hall, Angel David, Hope Davis, Alex Stevens, Paul Calderon, Kevin Corrigan, Hugh Palmer, Jay O. Sanders. Screenplay: Richard Price (loosely adapted from the earlier screenplay by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer, itself based on a story by Eleazar Lipsky). Twitter Capsule:
NYC crime thriller oddly lit and styled like Wild Things-level Florida noir. Needs more grit or more Cagey coloring.
VOR:③
Flashes of sleekness and punch, often care of Cage, occasionally down to Jackson, Tucci, or Price, but even they don't win every fight. Seems more of a put-on the closer you look.
