Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Alicia I love this movie so much

Clevercell Very disappointing...

ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

LeonLouisRicci Some Good Acting Chops are On Display in this B-Movie and the Story is OK but the Thing Lacks Style. It is Remarkable to Add an Intellectual Subplot to the Usual Gangster Clichés like Drugs, Slang, and Swagger. A Gangster Thug who Knows that there is More than just Beatings and Intimidation but hasn't a Clue, is Attracted to a Formerly Successful Writer Suffering the Block and is Hitting the Bottle and Befriends Him for a Cultural Tradeoff.It is All Mediocre and the Dialog is Middle of the Road and the Action is Restrained, but Again there is No Style Awarded to the Characters or the Script. It just sort of Lies there a Good Idea Unfulfilled. The Love Triangle goes No Where and is Contrived and not Thought Out Very Well.Worth a Watch but the Sparks Never Ignite and the Middle Reveal is so Sudden and Unbelievable that the Film Suffers for the Remainder, Never Managing to Recover from that Ill Advised bit of Double-Cross.

elshikh4 Actually the idea of one gangster who wants to be educated by that unemployed writer is quite brilliant. It has one great irony which could make a fine comedy, a good Action or a nice drama about the difference between the 2 worlds of them both. The movie cleverly tried to make a strange romance out of it with some thrill yet with a character's analysis that really says a lot about the personality of the contemporary cultured.I love it all together; the simple direction, the effective acting, the bluesy music. It was all about the fallen world of (Jake Bridges) and how this gifted man just loses it when he confines himself faraway beyond the factual humans & things, to become that isolated literate who cut all the bridges and had nothing to present nor to tell. But now the story to till about (or to report about to be precise !) is the life of that gangster who's shown as more sincere, honest and ethical ! It's that marvelous situation of one conscious brain but inanimate, and one twisted muscle but so active. So of course the world will be for the second man and when that second also searches for goodness, then the love too will be for him ! It's (Casablanca) again ! But with the famous sentimental exile as a modern cultured person who's less idealistic than the gangster ! Therefore the end here was ingenious with (Frankie McGregor/Michael Wincott) and (Melissa/Diane Lane) being together free under the sun - as he deserves her better - and (Jake Bridges/William Petersen) is in jail (metaphorically his own jail of misgivings) writing at last as he finally lived one experience to write about which came from his late interaction with real people, but again he was writing about them from the same idiot perspective : (I miss them. It's strange. The people whom you'd think that you would never love.. are the very ones whom last in your memory !) look at his ever dull point of view (you'd think that you would never love..) he still treats according to previous concept as they're all lower than him and he sadly still denies his love for them (they just in his memory !) even if they're fun to remember and painful to miss !So what's the motif of that (Rick Blaine)'s ugly new copy ? It's the human journey in the big world just to discover oneself ! and the self of that gallant authentic gangster was wanting such a good place in real life, so he won love. And that swindler learned loiterer who wants a book, money or even the same love perhaps will get everything except love. Why is that ?! Maybe because he was loving himself all along, seeing no one anyone except himself ! Or maybe because he is the perfect exile cultured who is meaner and less strong-willed than the ex-criminal. So what a satire this movie presents against (Bridges), and his likes, as the real criminal who's too detained and barren to learn or feel anything true and lasting.

whemmer This is an enjoyable movie. A supposedly down-and-out writer (Jake, played by William Peterson) who is actually working undercover in order to get some material for a novel gets more than he bargains for. The cops he works for turn out to be as bad as the gangsters he's supposedly trying to get arrested. He gradually befriends one of the gangsters (Frankie, played by Michael Wincott) and much of the plot turns on issues of betrayal, love and friendship. Beautifully shot, well acted...Wincott is particularly fine...and a plot that keeps you wondering what's going to happen. Some pretty violent scenes, so those who don't like violence, keep away.Even though the movie is shot in color, the lighting reminds you of the great noir genre films of the 50's. Diane Lane plays Melissa, the love interest for both men. The ending is a surprise.

Jore-2 Let me start off with the one sole minor point of the movie, the story is pathetic, it's standard and I saw it a hundred times before. The ending repaired it a bit, but it can't take away the damage. The rest... VERY VERY nice, the acting exceeds my most optimistic expectations, these actors (especially Michael Wincott) show they really can do more than low-budget movies. Michael Wincott even proofs to be a more than average cinema worth actor, his acting is really one of the strongest points this movie has to offer, but it has way more, well-directed, very well matching scenery (even better when you consider that this movie is low-budget, something it most certainly doesn't show) and a dialogue that makes you feel warm.If you like gangster movies this is your thing. I didn't mind the familiar story and actually regret this movie skipping cinema and the movie has more than average qualities which will most certainly appeal to most movie viewers.