Traces of Red

Even in a robust casting stuffed of hot sequences mainly by the volcanic Lorraine Bracco as never seen before as vamp woman, also the poker face Jim Belushi and the unforgettable GHOST's villain Tony Goldwyn without forget our sensual V's heroine Faye Grant, the film sinks on a defective screenplay just on opening sequence when Jim Belushi appears laying death, the viewers will collect the damages on final far-fetched outcome.

The producers would be carefully and alert such fatal mistake requiring another setting to avoid mislead the audience, in other hand the girls involved delivered all their can on those appealing sequence that became an erotic thriller, also the producers dared to touch in a neuralgic subject with tactless, as expose by someone here this flick had a weak achievement at box-office, although bounced back on rental video format.

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First watch: 1998 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 6.25.

A homicide detective in Palm Springs tracks down a serial killer whose victims are all somewhat linked to him.

Crushingly boring, inextricably muddled and casually performed attempt at film noir, in which the killed victim tells the story, a la "Sunset Boulevard". The characters are so dull and dislikable, that by the time the final tricky twist comes on display you scarcely care.

"Traces Of Red" has a striking opening sequence, and a well-done double-twist at the end; the rest of the movie, though, is flat - almost like a TV movie (especially when compared to, say, the same year's "Basic Instinct", which I saw again yesterday - the gap between the two films is enormous). The biggest liability is Lorraine Bracco's vacuous, unconvincing femme fatale; James Belushi is equally miscast as the town stud, though he has some good moments near the end. The best things about the movie are the lush, jazzy music score, and some nice panoramic views of Palm Beach. ** out of 4.

Overheated but good-looking and fairly entertaining murder mystery that will probably please most whodunit fans, despite (or, for some viewers, perhaps BECAUSE of) its overly convoluted plot, which may even demand a second viewing to get completely straightened out in one's head. James Belushi gets to show some ambiguity that's rare for him, but Lorraine Bracco's femme fatale is a barely sexy disappointment. (**)

If so, you'll like "Traces of Red", a murder mystery in which Belushi plays a cop hot on the trail of a serial killer in Palm Beach, FL. Though the flick misses the sweaty Florida noir atmospherics of "Palmetto" and "Gold Coast" and dishes up a convoluted, not-to-be-taken-seriously plot, it does feature the same old likeable tough guy Belushi in his slimmer days. Good stuff for Belushi fans. Marginal, mediocre escapist stuff for everyone else. (C)