Snake Eyes (1998)

Had So Much Potential And In The End It All Gets Ruined
Brian De Palma has always been one of my favorite directors; he has an extraordinary way to bring his ideas to screen. Like his other films he brings in the awesome camera angles that are of course his trademark. But here the angles seem useless, they are well brought out and at times a bit overused but definitely pointless.

The film story which is a bit far-fetched commences with a police detective attending a championship boxing match (played by Nicolas Cage). In the match we witness from many deferent angles an assassination during the match. The question now lies as to who is responsible for the assassination and why. Little by little we are revealed what happened and how it happened from many points of view. Now even though the angles and different views are quite enticing and boggles the mind a bit it all seems pointless. Why should you confuse the audience over and over again when we know in the first 15 minutes who is responsible for the assassination. And not to mention the ending which is so dumb and it cheats its way out. It feels like the writers had a great idea for a movie but just didn't know how to develop it or end it. The movie is entertaining and it's okay just don't expect a huge twist or surprise in the end because all you're goanna get is disappointment.

MY PERSONAL RATING: 3 OUT OF 5

De Palma is a genius with the camera!!!,
It's more mystery, who-dun-it type thriller, where you have to figure out who did what from the "clues" given throughout the film. Although this was more the type of movie where they didn't actually give you any visible clues, they just showed the scene again from another point of view later on, so the audience would go, ohh, I get it now... that's what really happened...

"Snake Eyes" stars Nicolas Cage as Atlantic City cop Rick Santoro. Now Rick is the kind of guy who'll take a few bucks from you and look away. He's got a wife, and a kid, and a girlfriend. He drives an expensive car, and has aspirations of running for mayor. Everyone knows about Rick, especially his friend, Navy Commander Kevin Dunn (Gary Sinise). It's fight night at the Atlantic City Convention Center, and the Secretary of Defense is in attendance, with Dunn as the lead "bodyguard" for the night. But shortly after the fight starts, an assassin's bullet kills the Secretary, and the chaos begins. It's up to Santoro to figure out who did what and why. Without ruining anything, it turns out to be a few stories, seemingly having nothing to do with each other, that come together as Santoro figures out what happened, and learns a few things he really didn't want to know.

This was a pretty good film. "Pretty" being the highlighted word of that sentence. Visually, it was very enjoyable. I love movies where they show scenes from different points of views then later on they have a voice over explaining what happened, and then they show that same scene from a different angle, just so you can see what you missed. The opening of "Snake Eyes" is fantastic. Cage is electrifying in the opening, and remains full of energy throughout the entire film. He steals every scene. Gary Sinise has been better, and his role seemed quite similar to other roles he has played - Ransom came to mind. Although the film is very energetic, the plot is full of holes and doesn't seem to hold together all that well. The rest of the cast is very good, as is the production design and the cinematography. The 'climatic showdown' is one of the most manufactured Hollywoodised endings you can imagine. Because the start was so good, you expect the film to hold up and continue to deliver the punches, but it seems to fall slightly after that - very much the fault of the script. Overall, I'd say "Snake Eyes" was a good thriller. It was a stylish film, with strong acting that probably deserved a better story. For those who want to learn more about Depalma through this site go to R.A. Bean "filmfanatical" because he's Depalma's number one fan.

"The End"

DePalma's Sinister Noirish Conspiracy Thriller!
Brian DePalma wastes no time taking viewers inside his noirish conspiracy thriller set in Atlantic City during a hurricane. His opening shot flows for over 15 minutes, uninterupted, introducing every character you need to know in that short time frame. He interweaves between TV point of view to the actual casino in record breaking time, and in breathtaking fashion.
Nicolas Cage as Rick Santoro is so perfectly cast as an over the top cop on the make, that it's so easy from the very beginning of the film to forget it's only a movie.
Between the very first shot of the politician and his entourage, including two powerful characters in the film played by Gary Sinise as Kevin Dunne (a friend of Rick's), a political figure played by John Heard, the female newscaster, Rick Santoro, a sleazy news reporter (played by Kevin Dunn), a bookie that owes Santoro a dept (played by Louis Guzman), the boxer Lincoln Tyler (played by Stan Shaw), his promoter, and everybody else involved in the 'conspiracy', as well as everything you need to know about the story, whether seen or heard, are all shown to the viewer in that short time span.
After the assasination takes place and all h*ll breaks loose in the casino, we are then taken on a journey of trying to solve the crime in a very Agatha Christie/Karasowa's "Rashomon" style that is utterly breathtaking in every scene, every flasback, and every version of what you see or what you are told. Everyone's story is slightly different, so no one knows who is telling the truth until the end of the film.
And, DePalma employs so many terrific camera angles and devices and tricks, that the film should be kept in a film school vault and studied every year for the next couple of decades.
From a mysterious redheaded woman to a blonde who is revealed to be a brunette with a wig on (played by Carla Gugino), from following a bloody hundred dollar bill to a ruby red ring, DePalma sets us on the coarse, working from a great script by David Koep (who scripted "Mission: Impossibe" and "Carlito's Way"), putting things right before your very eyes, and/or in your ears, just to have you questioning everything and everyone you see on screen.
And, the dark humor/irony is delicious! Especially when Rick recieves a phone call from a show girl, saying she's his lucky number seven right as the assasination takes place.
The slogan "Believe everything except your eyes" was a perfect tag line for this 1998 classic psychological mystery, noirish conspiracy thriller from the Master of Suspense. Because, after the film is over, and you know the way the plot turned out, then go back and view it again, you see that DePalma shows everything you need to see in the first 15 minutes of the film, and it's all right in front of your very eyes!
And, be sure to watch this film all the way until you see the words "The End" pop up to know just how sinister this story really is. Hint: A ruby red ring in stone.?.?.
And, when DePalma returns his camera back outside the arena, and the storm is raging, thus is the build up to a very awesome climatic scene in what is already established as a VERY noirish story/film.
Awesome! I would rate it a LOT higher than just 5 stars if possible.
Brian DePalma really hit a solid homerun for his fans with this classic, exposing just how evil, ugly, and sinister the world of Atlantic City really is.
And, the song at the end of the film By Mercedes Brooks, called "Sin City" is awesome, and the lyrics recap the story of the film.
Definetly the best film Nicolas Cage has EVER been lucky enough to be cast in, and his best performance by far!
Highly recommended! Thank you.