Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29363 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-07-18
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Customer Reviews

Great dark comedy
This independent film is a delightful dark comedy. The film stars Alec Baldwin as a professional theif with a subtle tough-guy demeanor and a love of vinyl jazz. Baldwin combines his dry wit, his myriad of facial expressions, and his trademark .45 auto into a thoroughly interesting character. Michael Jai White comes in as a reniassance hoodlum and Rebecca DeMornay is way out of type as a not particularly attractive cop. All of these actors plus a great performance by talented character actor Andre Braugher will keep you chuckling through the whole film. Keep in mind this film is a showcase of acting ability and not a testament to big pecs or explosions, but as smaller budget independent films go this one is on the A-list.

Good crime story with a warped sense of humor
This film has a good story, but you have to have a certain appreciation for warped humor to enjoy it. The characters range from mildly unusual to downright peculiar. Pointy (Michael Jai White) is a black crime boss who is trying desperately to be a yuppie, playing golf at the country club, owning a French restaurant and lecturing on culture to anyone who will listen. All this is highly incongruous with the drug dealing, cap-busting realities of his crime syndicate, which makes him a droll and entertaining character. Mackin (Alec Baldwin) is a meticulous thief, who does occasional heists for the Mafia. He is an obsessive collector of vinyl jazz albums and takes his dog on capers because he wants to spend quality time with him.

When Mackin does a food stamp heist for Pointy, Pointy double-crosses him. This sets up Mackin's revenge, which encompasses most of the film. The vendetta keeps escalating and the Mafia starts losing patience with both antagonists, introducing a third element into the conflict. The plot has a number of interesting twists and the climax is quite unexpected.

First time director Scott Sanders' direction was solid but nothing special. The music, especially the jazz, was excellent. His work with the cast was nicely done, adding a sardonic tone to the entire movie, although I thought at times he got carried away with the disjointed humor.

The acting was generally very good. Alec Baldwin's quirky portrayal of this painstaking thief was delightful. Rebecca De Mornay played a very different character than we are used to seeing from her. She was terrific as the tough and impassive cop with an understated and sarcastic wit. However, the best performances were given by Michael Jai White and Andre Braugher. White stole the show with his oh-so-refined mob boss impression. Braugher was great as his cool and calculating lieutenant, with nerves of steel and a brilliant criminal mind.

Overall, this was a good crime story that meandered a bit too much from the main plot. I rated it a 7/10. Add a point if you like wry incongruous humor because this film has plenty.

No socially redeeming qualities whatsoever, thank God
I've never seen a movie with dialog so tight it seems like the loss of even one word could ruin the entire film. The plot, though simple, feels almost as carefully shaved as the dialog. (One scene always bugs me though: the size of Mackin's pre-eBay jazz LP collection makes it impossible to believe he never met this record store owner before now.) Other than my stupidity over that one scene, I love every other second of this movie.
If you enjoy Dave Barry, Hunter Thompson, Barry Sonnenfeld, Get Shorty, Snatch, Big Trouble, Dave Attell, Lewis Black, Donnie Darko, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Last Supper, then you are sick! And will probably enjoy this warped movie.