FlashCallahan Jimmy Kilmartin's an ex-con who is predictably trying to go straight. But his friend's life is threatened, so he obliges to do one last job. The job is for Little Junior Brown, a violent and powerful villain. When things go wrong, Jimmy is left to do the time, and his whole life is turned upside-down.But the cops won't leave Jimmy alone when he gets out, as they want to get Little Junior....It s quite funny that David Caruso was trying to be the next big thing in Hollywood. In 1995 he had two pretty high profile releases, this, and the arguably better 'Jade'.When I first saw this back in 1995, I thought this was a pretty smart crime thriller. It had plot twists aplenty, a good story, and was reminiscent of Carlitos Way. But I was seventeen, and I thought the movie 'Congo' was cutting edge.Seeing now, years later, its apprentice that the film isn't trying hard enough to be anything different. Its a crime thriller, nothing more, and it's the same old story line of the guy wanting to go straight, but the police won't let up, and neither will the criminals.It's pretty much the cinematic version of Pacinos line in GF Pt 3, 'just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in'.The performances are good though, particularly Tucci and Cage. Caruso wasn't ready for the big time, and the fact that he had such wonderful support, dint help either.Good, but not as clever as it thinks it is...The Boris Johnson of movies....

JasparLamarCrabb Barbet Schroeder has not had what anyone would call a very fruitful American period. In between the Wilderesque black comedy masterwork REVERSAL OF FORTUNE and the pedestrian MURDER BY NUMBERS came this in-name-only remake of Henry Hathaway's 1947 classic. David Caruso, possessing none of the presence or gravitas it takes to carry a film, stars as a con trying to go straight but is tripped up by his involvement with degenerate gangster Nicolas Cage (as Little Junior Brown -- that name being one of the few clever things in the film). Schroeder directs the film at a brisk clip but it's all for naught; the material is just nothing special. Appearances by Helen Hunt, Stanley Tucci (as a self-serving prosecutor), Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Rappaport add very little.

rhinocerosfive-1 Barbet Schroeder hands us his scariest impression of a violent world since the "Self Portrait" of Idi Amin. Richard Price's script clicks along like a BQE on hardboiled rails. Both are aided by distinctive, urgent characterizations from just about everybody. This is at least as good as the original.There are, of course, many guilty pleasures here. Helen Hunt hit by a truck in the second reel, Michael Rapaport right-crossed to death, and Sam Jackson shot in the face are what genre pictures are all about. It's Godzilla stomping Tokyo, mortar fire at Omaha Beach, a Peacemaker laying out the sheriff - the lurid fulfillment of forbidden wishes. But a good B movie must earn these cheap thrills: a good B movie must entertain the higher faculties to deserve tumbling skyscrapers and spurts of blood. None of Michael Bay earns its shocks. Most of Eastwood doesn't; some of Friedkin, half of Tony Scott, most of Ford, and nearly all of Hawks do. Having proved his ability in the American idioms of the courtroom drama ("Reversal of Fortune") and, to a lesser extent, the stalker picture ("Single White Female"), here Schroeder demands efficiency and style of every technician and artist and delivers a sharp crime thriller.This works because it's the best kind of melodrama. The characters do not make absurd decisions; the plot suits the story, instead of the other way around, as in almost every Schwarzenegger vehicle. No decision is without consequence. Nobody wins, until the very silly last five minutes, by which time the real climax has already occurred. These are bad people in bad situations behaving, for the most part, very badly. There is pathos without sentiment, virtue without idealism, sacrifice without honor. Chiefly there is redemption without cynicism. Ben Hecht would approve. Henry Hathaway would not recognize it as proper American film-making. Perhaps it isn't.David Caruso is as good as he is capable of being in the central role, and the character's plight is sympathetic enough. Caruso is always competent, but hanging a whole film around his neck is a bad call because he's hard to like. (For best use of Caruso, see "King of New York" and "Session 9".) So it's Nicolas Cage's movie in spite of his own deficiencies. Cage's forte is light comedy; he is naturally brilliant at it, but not at the virile heroic stuff he makes all his money on. No matter how big he gets or how hard he stares, his Little Junior isn't as creepy as Widmark's little Tommy Udo. Still Cage's character's unpredictable behavior and inflated physical presence are enough to overpower most of the performances sharing screen time with his. The support puts in a good day's work, though - Hunt is less affected than usual, Jackson less cartoonish, Stanley Tucci less pretentious. They all have Price to thank for credible motivation and clever things to say. They should also thank Schroeder for not being Roger Spottiswoode, Joel Schumacher or George Cosmotos.

cobra31 I saw the scoring for this film and thought 5.9/10 was just plain wrong and felt the need to give my opinion.Personally, I'm quite a fan of those film noirs/crime dramas from the 40/50s, mainly because of their tense atmosphere and gritty realism and so with this being a remake of a classic original, this was right up my street.All I'm going to say about the movie is that the plot is fast paced, exciting, with several twists and keeps you involved right through to the end.David Caruso got panned by critics for his role in this and I felt that was unjust as I thought his performance and demeanour were just right for the character he was playing.The rest of the cast is great and with some great performances by Ving Rhames, Nic Cage, Stanley Tucci, and in particular Anthony Heald as the scumbag lawyer.As a previous reviewer said, perhaps some people were put off this film by the sheer nastiness of some of the characters, but try to put that to one side and enjoy the ride.I'd probably give this movie a solid 8/10, but because of the overall rating I'm going to give it a 10.