Mortel Business

Opportunist insurance hacks Jerry (William Fichtner) and Pat's (John C. Reilly) hopes of avoiding bankruptcy after purchasing beautiful cancer victim Barbara's (Kelly McGillis) policy ultimately provides them with a wealth of misfortune. With glistering dialogue, Steilen's peppy, blackly funny crime thriller finds Kelly McGillis, John C. Reilly and William Fichtner on especially lively form. The engaging text, zippy direction, flashes of mordant humour, and on-point performances strongly suggest that The Settlement deserves to be emancipated from its wholly undeserved bargain bin DVD status. This appealingly smart, seemingly neglected 90s gem is a comedy-Noir treat, with sinfully slinky siren McGillis an absolute delight as firecracker femme fatal Barbara.

I founded and own a successful Viatical and Life Settlement Brokerage, having been in life insurance since the '60's. This movie is a very good combination of black comedy, political and sexual satire, film noir mystery, and morality play. From my perspective, it gets better each time I watch it. Those of us in the industry know, of course, that key elements of the business side of the film are completely impossible, but it's easy to suspend disbelief and go along for the ride. About the only complaint I'd make is that the audio is at times very difficult to pick up, and I recommend boosting treble and minimizing bass to get all the interchanges between the two main characters. Lots of luck finding this movie via rental as not even Netflix carries it. I bought lots of copies for my Settlement business colleagues and a select few of my friends. If you liked Pulp Fiction, odds are you'll like this one...and vice-versa.

"The Settlement" gets out of the blocks quick exploring the contrasting philosophies of the leads, builds its unique premise into a clever story, and then runs out of gas turning into a very ordinary "give me the money or I'll shoot" flick in the end. At it's best, this angry film, which showcases a mere four actors, is only lukewarm. However, with the midstream good-bad guy switch and the unimaginative ending, the film fizzles. At this writing, "The Settlement" is where it belongs. On cable.

This gets a 10.0 to offset whatever misinformed voters took it down to a 5.0, and it is a solid 8.0 viewing experience no matter what. Anytime death is the motivation for monetary gain in a dark comedy, it is usually a winning combination (see "Eating Raoul"). "The Settlement" has a creative script, great chemistry between John C. Reilly and William Fichtner, and some of the darkest humor in any film. It's a scam, noir, murder, that delivers inspired dialog without any distraction from it's minor budget. Seek this one out if you admire true "black comedy". It most certainly will hold up to repeat viewings. As a matter of fact I can't wait to watch it again. - MERK

A nice surprise! A ballsy, unethical movie about ballsy, unethical people, but it's not a turn-off. John C. Reilly projects such amazing grace on-screen that it's easy to pass off what he does as standard. As an actor, he's solid, nonchalant and natural, and also very sexy (but, blessedly, not textbook handsome). Reilly always seems to have an extra card up his sleeve, and he's unafraid to be quiet just after racing through a foul-mouthed tirade. Here, he's in partnership with William Fichtner in a life insurance operation which is given a run for its money by a mysterious woman who says she only has three months to live. Low-profile film certainly afforded Kelly McGillis the best role she's had in years, and the twists in the screenplay are delicious. This went straight to cable. Too bad...it's more inventive than many other pictures which get a wide distribution. **1/2 from ****