One of the best movie I've seen this year//The plot is great and the movie keeps your interest the whole time watching//Surprise ending A+++++++++++
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first impressions can be deceiving
Added 2/17/2001
For about 3/4's of it's running time, this drama remains interesting because of the acting of Christopher Walken and Lorraine Bracco. Walken can be a supreme mannerist but here he is simple and direct, whilst this performance made me re-evaluate my previous dismissive attitude towards Bracco. In spite of a tendency to use a Melanie Griffith slow vocal style, and photographed unflatteringly, she displays considerable technique, and now I'm keen to explore her back catalogue. There is a natural exhaustion factor in stories about the con game, since it builds on one-upmanship, and a succession of betrayals and plot twists eventually overturn the good feeling created by screenwriter Craig Smith, adapting his own novel Ladystinger. Apart from his control of the actors, director John Flynn doesn't go for any stylistic choices, though a decapitation seems appropriate for the Jamaican locale. Even with a subplot about crossing the mob, the film's tone doesn't qualify it as a thriller, since the leads never feel genuinely at risk, and it's not violent enough to be called an action pic either. And as with the spiralling stings, it has about 2 endings too many, which ultimately is unsatisfying. Martin Donovan is feaured in a supporting role as a computer geek though has little material to work with.
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