Judas Kiss

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...

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.

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

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.

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