This World, Then the Fireworks

Gorgeous people doing grisly things. Family values...IS he sleeping with his sister? Will he kill his girl friend? Remember when slips were risque? Savor the flavor of the fifties. Big flashy cars. Good girls going to Tijuana for bad reasons. Tough women who really need a man to protect them. Bring your nostalgia and your sense of humor. Let the spell begin.

Come on, Billy Zane is amazing in this film. If for anything, it's worth watching to see his performance. I watched this film after standing at a Bright Eyes concert for hours, I was tired but just let it go on because it kept my attention, STOOD WITH ME, much more than many modern day pop. films do. It really is a tribute to Film-Noir more than anything. The angles and shots at times remind me of Hitchcock, but mostly it stays within the bounds of Noir. It's like the director watched A & E and Nick at Night forever. If you watched Film-Noir you know the plot isn't always explained with your hand held like many films are for nowadays people. Film Noir was slick and cool. It's not a perfect film but it's a damn good one! Worth a watch, don't judge this film by its cover, actually don't even look at the cover at all. The cover sucks, its worthless, the film itself, is great.

I'm a long-time fan of Jim Thompson, and I very much enjoyed THIS WORLD, THEN THE FIREWORKS, a flawed but gritty little project which manages to capture Thompson's hard-edged stylistic virtuosity quite nicely. Regardless, I wouldn't open-handedly recommend it to anyone who's not a foaming-at-the-mouth noir fanatic, as the film's tone of pervasive hopelessness will likely prove unappealing to many. As well, much of the violence is purblindly direct and quite potent.

The lurid tale at hand concerns a dejected Chicago news reporter returning to the rustic environs of his youth(and to the sister he once loved in a rather unwholesome way), and finding that the passing of years has reduced the town to a squalid ragdump, rife with sordid lives and ubiquitary misery. Relentlessly dark and subtly sardonic ultra-noir, with even the most likable characters suppressing some degree of unscrupulous shadiness. Not a joyful diversion, but effective, and surprisingly sincere in its illustration of the source material.

6/10...recommended.

This movie is moslty overlooked at most video shelfs. They tend to place this movie in action. What this movie is a dark, thriller about two twins who are very good at being very bad. They later learn that they need each other to be able to live. The twins are played by Billy Zane(Titanic,Dead Calm,The Phantom) and Gina Gershon(Face/Off). Also along for the ride are Rue McClanahan(TV's The Golden Girls)as the twins mother, who eventtually discover's the twins deadly secrets. Co-starring in this thriller is Will Patton(Entrapment,The Postman,No Way Out). It is rated R for nudity, swearing , some shot outs and some deaths. If you want to see the movie leads in some times overlooked movie , check out this movie!!This movie is worth a rental anyway , even it seems a bit off the normal mainstream eye candy !!Just dont let the kids watch this till their old enough to understand the plot and other things that made this a R movie!1

This is an exceptional type of film. Strange and moody, bizarre in parts. It is a sort of Film Noir in color and very easy to watch. I love Billy Zane, and his performances always have a sprinkle of him in them. There are some odd twists and turns and the cinematograpy and costumes and very right on! If you are into 50's mysteries then this one may grab you.