El beso de Judas

Thirty pieces of silver and a kiss for luck. This one was another totally unexpected gem. Usually, I'm not even a suspense/thriller fan. This satisfying 100 minutes has more twists than a boardwalk pretzel. It has titillating erotic romance, reminiscent of "Body Heat" in more ways than one; it has cops and crime; political intrigue and just a dash of daytime soap. It has just the right touch of gritty violence that any professional "by-the-numbers" crime job must employ. Emma Thompson, (FBI AIC), delivers her role with grace and humor and gets my vote for best fake southern accent by a Limey. Alan Rickman, (local cop), who always seems to steal the show, is excellent but not overbearing. They work well as a pair. Lots of plot misdirection that never gets out of control and gets coherently reconnected at film's end. And who is this awesome woman, Carla Gugino? I want her to bear my children. Carla, if you're out there, let's do lunch.

@Lary9

Here we have a thoroughly satisfactory crime caper of the film noir variety. The plot has the usual ingredients – greed, sex, betrayal and revenge – but nicely blended and all proceeding at a reasonably fast pace. The casting of two serious British actors, Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman, as a couple of down-at-heel Southern cops is a bit weird, but it works. There's Coco, a gorgeous young femme fatale (Carla Gugino) and three other offbeat young crims, a steamy, authentic New Orleans setting, a kidnap gone wrong (a bystander is shot), hints of police corruption and a tense finale.

The kidnap victim, played by Greg Wise (Emma's real-life partner, apparently) is a Bill Gates-like computer billionaire, though a lot better-looking, who is totally at a loss away from his keyboard – he spends most of his captivity quivering in a corner. I thought it was quite a neat trick to set his ransom at the level of his company's kidnap insurance cover - if you don't have to bear the loss you will be more likely to agree to the kidnapper's demand. The shot bystander turns out to have been the wife of a US senator, played by Hal Holbrook. Hal can do nasty political types in his sleep, but he puts plenty of effort into this portrayal.

Our own Aussie Simon Baker-Denny as Coco's boyfriend and criminal associate brings plenty of cool to the role (a long way from the innocent young cop in E- Street) but Coco is the real stand-out. She's so hot you could fry eggs on her tummy yet she has a certain sense of innate decency that engenders sympathy.

I don't really care if the film was directed by some hot young Venezuelan novelist (Sebastian Gutierrez) who is a fan of Almovodar (whose influence seems to have been limited to the primary colours used in the credits). We've seen the story and the characters all before - this is a Hollywood formula movie freshly prepared and presented with lots of silly bits and there's never a dull moment. Heck, Jamaicans can do bob-sledding – why shouldn't foreigners take over Hollywood? Yet the movie went straight to cable in the US. Silly Yanks.

And it got it in France ! Why not in the rest of the world while the studios keep churning out expensive post-Grisham trash (Will anyone remember him as a fine writer, and not the most betrayed-by-the-screen author this side of Stephen King ?) this one has it all. Okay, the situations are not always original, has minor plot holes and it has a tendency to be too clever some (brief) times for its own sake, but it actually delivers and is obviously a work of love. I'd be curious to know what the budget was. AND. for once, this is not a cheap Tarantino copy ! (Well, film noir didn't started with Tarantino, you know.) Will it once again be saved by Europe, like John Dahl's movies were, so Mr Guttierez can make another one like this ? If you ever read this, Mr Guttierez, thank you and se

I caught this film on a lark, never having heard of it, and not knowing what to expect. It is a very well done plot twister, reminiscent of "Body Heat," and with a great cast of unknown young people, backed up by more established stars like Emma Thompson, Alan Ricker, and Hal Holbrooke. You're never really sure about what is happening until the end.

Featuring a "Body Heat meets Pulp Fiction" plot, some delightful film moments, too easy performances from Rickman and Thompson, this first outing is solid and stylish. Well-written dialogue is delivered by a sexy young cast in a hit and run series of well-composed scenes. Political intrigue mixes with sexual dynamics against a crime and crisis backdrop. New Orleans provides historical richness to contrast high-tech communications tricks on the part of the kidnap gang. Recommended...