THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 25, 1995 TAG: 9504250036
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
``KISS OF DEATH'' is a dangerous movie about merciless people.
Stay alert at all times. No matter which side of the law they're on, these people demand watching. Only a fool would turn his back on them.
Performed by a superb ensemble cast, it is the best yet of efforts to modernize the memorable 1940s films featuring dark shadows and sleazy lowlifes. Based very loosely on the 1947 crime drama that starred Victor Mature and Richard Widmark, it effectively takes the basic premise (ex-con trying to go straight) and adapts it to the new, and significantly more dangerous, world of today.
We meet ex-con Jimmy Kilmartin and his wife, Bev, an ex and maybe present alcoholic. They want to love each other, but times are rough. Enter Jimmy's desperate cousin, Ronnie, who pleads that Jimmy help him in a job - a criminal job. Jimmy is on parole. The audience, already seeing him as a decent guy, hopes he will refuse. He doesn't.
David Caruso, complete with insinuating voice and tough, unorthodox exterior, makes a bold and successful bid to become a movie star in the role of Jimmy. Caruso's noisy departure from the successful TV show ``NYPD Blue'' left some TV fans feeling betrayed. If they were hoping that he'd flop in his switch to movie theaters, they'll be disappointed. He has the unique, non-pretty-boy look of a man who has had some rough times and is content to merely endure.
Jimmy gets deeper and deeper into trouble as he gets caught between the law and the criminals. An ambitious lawyer (Stanley Tucci) blackmails him into going undercover to spy on the bad boys. Samuel L. Jackson is the bitter cop who initially beats him up but later becomes his ally.
The film is almost stolen by a wild show of histrionics by Nicolas Cage as Little Junior, a sleazy crook. It's a pleasure to see Cage back with another of the off-center, almost insane, characterizations that were the driving force of his early career. Little Junior even bench-presses a bimbo blonde in an early scene. After three comedies (``It Could Happen to You,'' ``Guarding Tess'' and ``Honeymoon in Vegas'') he's BAD again.
Cage proves that he will be able to take over if Dennis Hopper ever gets too old for these roles. Indeed, this is perhaps the most outlandishly evil villain since Hopper's turn in ``Blue Velvet.''
It is Caruso's restrained and much-put-upon presence, though, that must hold the film together. It is too early yet to tell if this is an actor who can last the course, but he is at least an interesting presence. Helen Hunt is effective as the troubled wife, Bev. While not one of his largest roles, the always-impressive Jackson is fine as the enemy-turned-friend cop.
Perhaps the best of the lot, in terms of a supporting performance, is Michael Rapaport as Ronnie, the deceptively evil cousin. Rapaport has a baby face and a harmless exterior, but he is also of the streets. With ``True Romance'' and ``Higher Learning'' already to his credit, this confirms him as a character actor to watch.
In fact, there is not a weak link in the cast.
Barbet Schroeder, a director who has worked mostly in France, reveals that he is a sharp, disciplined chronicler of tension when he's given a script this good. He also did the overrated ``Reversal of Fortune'' and the underrated ``Barfly.''
The writing, filled with tough, terse dialogue, is by Richard Price, who was Oscar nominated for ``The Color of Money.'' Most impressive, though, is the photography of Luciano Tovoli - lots of rain reflected on blue-tinted streets.
Be warned that the language as well as the violence is tough. One guy gets beaten to death. There's no humor, as in ``Pulp Fiction,'' to give any relief.
Most effective are the authentic New York settings. For once, Hollywood doesn't try to fool us by using an antiseptic Canadian city to play the wormy Big Apple. Most outlandishly amusing is the strip joint, Baby Cakes, where many of the intrigues and some of the shooting takes place. Baby Cakes may well become a pop moniker in camp culture.
These are serious guys. Enter at your own risk. ILLUSTRATION: MOVIE REVIEW
``Kiss of Death''
Cast: David Caruso, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicolas Cage, Helen Hunt,
Stanley Tucci, Michael Rapaport, Ving Rhames
Director: Barbet Schreoeder
Screenplay: Richard Price
Music: Trevor Jones
MPAA rating: R (one person beaten to death, others almost; the
nudity of a strip club)
Mal's rating: ***1/2
Locations: Chesapeake Square in Chesapeake; Janaf and Main Gate
in Norfolk; Columbus, Kemps River, Lynnhaven 8 and Surf-N-Sand in
Virginia Beach
by CNB