Kiss of Death ** (1995, David Caruso, Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Helen Hunt, Stanley Tucci) – Classic Movie Review 2067

David Caruso stars as ex-con Jimmy Kilmartin who battles Nicolas Cage’s psychotic mobster Little Junior Brown in a basic, nastily violent crime thriller flick that’s no more than a cheesy B-movie. It’s flashy and atmospheric, but very patchy and overall not involving or exciting enough.

Kilmartin’s trying to go straight but agrees to a driving job for violent villain Little Junior because a friend’s life is threatened. Things go wrong, Kilmartin’s jailed, and then the cops won’t leave him alone when he gets out. They want him to go undercover with the help of an angry detective to ensnare Little Junior.

This heavily worked-over 1995 neo noir remake of the 1947 classic film noir with Victor Mature and Richard Widmark is securely based on the original Oscar-nominated story by Eleazar Lipsky and the 1947 Ben Hecht-Charles Lederer screenplay. But it isn’t really much of a success despite the still sturdy story, director Barbet Schroeder’s extravagant stylistics and the strong casting.

Cage is way over the top and, in contrast, Caruso doesn’t make the required impact. Big names in the starry cast like Samuel L Jackson, Helen Hunt, Stanley Tucci, Michael Rapaport, Ving Rhames, Kathryn Erbe, Anthony Heald, Anne Meara, Jay O Sanders, Hope Davis, Angel David and Philip Baker Hall are all more or less wasted. You could hardly wish for a better cast, just a better movie.

At the start, Kilmartin walks down the same street to his home as the hero in the original film.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2067

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