El beso de Judas

I caught this on cable. It started out well but I figured it would fall apart eventually but instead it got better and better. I don't know why it went to cable so fast and why there are currently no reviews in the database. It was an entertaining caper movie with great characters and truly unsuspected twists and turns set in New Orleans. Watch for great scenes: the Senators (Holbrook) put down of the detective ' .. don't ever even look at me again...' as well as later, Holbrook's "Apologize!' scene; the muscleman Reuben's method of showing how tough he is ; Coco's sexual heat scenes, Lizard's battle of wits with a determined FBI agent Sadie (Emma);Sadie (Emma Thompson) and (Rickman's) clever repartee. I did find the audio a bit difficult to follow because of background noise and character accents, and why an accountant was assigned by the corporation to deal with the kidnappers was unclear but on the whole an 8 out of 10 film.

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.

First off, this film is effective all the way through. There are so many good actors in this film it's hard to know where to begin. The four kidnappers work well together on screen. The best part of the movie for me would have to be when Coco is talking about the time her and Junior had met, trapped in a meat freezer. A song by "The Cure" is playing that has "just like a dream" in the chorus, don't know the actual name, but it is very romantic. When Junior is giving her oral sex while she is holding herself up in the air by a meat hook, it is so romantic. She says "I can't even look at a steak now without getting wet". On to Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson who as two law enforcement employees, have some innocent romantic moments of their own. Hal Holbrook gives a good performance as the revenge minded senator. Anyway, this movie has a lot going for it. I am surprised with so many good actors this movie doesn't have a bigger following. I am a big Carla Gugino fan, and she is hot is this one, even though maybe only a nanosecond of her fabulous breasts. Enjoy 6/10