Judas Kiss

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 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.

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

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.

What I really like about this movie is that the kidnapers generally show some intelligence...a rare thing in films. They don't have many of the film clichés that plague this types of films--they don't openly fight showing little or no cohesion, a rift isn't created in which the hostage can exploit to get away, and they don't fall for the "stall them and tell them it takes more time" ploys. The only two discernable "stupid criminal" clichés I noticed was opening up the case and gawking at the money in the gateway car and stopping the car to get another cell phone battery from the trunk...but there are other reasons for that. I also like the way Rickman's and Thompson's characters play off each other...it's fun to watch.