Palmetto (1998)

A Very Underrated 'Neo Noir'
I think this is one of those modern-day film noirs (neo noir) that went under the radar. It is excellent, and few people know about it.

It had an interesting and unpredictable story with some very neat twists. I'm not really sure I liked the very ending, but I sure enjoyed the rest of it. The film sports a couple of sexy female leads, played by Elisabeth Shue and Chloe Sevigny and I loved the wonderful colors in this movie. Not only was the cinematography great, so was the soundtrack with some solid blues tracks.

The movie was labeled by some national critics as a "poor man's 'Body Heat.'" Well, that's fine with me because I liked "Body Heat" a lot, too. If you liked that, you should like this movie, too.

Yes, there are a few holes in the story but nothing that damaged the storyline to any degree. Woody Harrelson was good in the lead and Gina Gershon and Michael Rapaport provided solid performance in supporting roles.

A Tale of Modern Noir---A Roach is a roach is a roach!
I won't go into the plot for this review because it looks like everyone else has beaten me to it. Anyway, let's begin: What this movie has is hot women. There's Elisabeth Shue and Gina Gershon. The former I like for her healthy rear and the latter I like for her sexy fish lips. Also, they both know how to manipulate men in that special way. Second, Harrelson plays a convincing role as an I-don't-care-about-the-world ex-con. He's your typical stoic tough guy who knows what he wants and will do what he needs to get it. Well, within reason. He still maintains whatever moral center he has left that prison life or the city of Palmetto didn't take away from him. He's one cool dude. Third, you'll see a number of scenes where Palmetto bugs are crawling here and there. Give me a break here! A fancy name for roaches! Palmetto bugs are "roaches." That's it. A different kind I'm sure than your average NYC variety but essentially the same. The Palmetto bugs in the movie symbolize something, but you got me as to what that might be. It was late when I saw it and today, as I'm writing this review, I just don't feel up to snuff to kickstart my brain for an analysis. I'll leave that up to you, my fellow readers. Third, what this movie has is murder, deception, sex, cheating, lying--all the necessary ingredients to a great film noir flick. Lastly, buy or rent this movie. Either way, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy yourself. However, see the movie at night when the sky is black. After all, it is a film noir.

wonderful
perfect, reminds me of manatee county, which is home. all kinds of weird things like this happen in florida everyday.....