# Snake Eyes (1998)

### reviewed by
Brian Takeshita

    SNAKE EYES

    A Film Review by Brian Takeshita

    Rating:  **1/2 out of ****

It was a dark and stormy night. A hurricane was making landfall and whipping the shores of Atlantic City, a town known for the bright lights which belied its dark, seamy underside. The rain came down like a gesture from God, trying to wash away the murkiness, the corruption, the evil. But taking shelter inside of one of the so-called jewels of the city's thorny crown were the sinners, gathered around a boxing arena and eager to watch the ensuing pugilistic contest like the Romans of old, frenzied in their thirst for blood, drawn of their fellow man.

That's how I envision the first paragraph of the screenplay for SNAKE EYES, in which director Brian De Palma attempts to deliver a film noir for the present day. It's got all the ingredients: A cop on the take, a villain with money and power, a damsel in distress, a boxer paid to take a dive, a murder, and a storm outside to provide an ominous backdrop.

The main character is Rick Santoro (Nicholas Cage), an Atlantic City police detective who is king in his sector of the boardwalk area. He knows everybody, is well connected, and gets regular payoffs by the local would-be felons. It's obvious he runs a pretty tight ship, one that serves his own purposes nicely.

Atlantic City is a big boxing town, and Santoro is a big boxing fan. On this particular night, he gets to watch the fight of the century from the front row, courtesy of his best friend, Navy Commander Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise), who is handling security for Defense Secretary Charles Kirkland (Joel Fabiani). Kirkland's attendance is partly a PR ploy to show solidarity with the arena's owner Gilbert Powell (John Heard), who's also the head of a defense contracting company developing the Airguard, a controversial new anti-missile system. When, in the middle of the fight, Kirkland is shot to death mere feet away from Santoro, he becomes embroiled in the investigation into who killed the Secretary and why, attempting to reconstruct the chain of events leading up to the assassination through eyewitness accounts, surveillance footage, and his own recollections.

The problem with film noir as a genre is that it doesn't give us very many surprises. There have already been a lot of films before this one that have set the series of events we expect - that's why it's a genre. It is for this reason that SNAKE EYES doesn't really impress. De Palma treats us to some interesting (although not innovative) camerawork, great use of light and shadow, and the way he plays out the same scenes from different perspectives is refreshing, but as a film there isn't a lot that's original. We can anticipate the plot twists, and we know what the outcome will be.

This is why it is perhaps even more disappointing that there are some rudimentary points which were not given enough attention, signifying some sloppy screenwriting and direction. For example, Julia Costello (Carla Gugino) is the person seen talking with Kirkland when he is shot. Disappearing into the crowd after being grazed by a bullet herself, she is sought after by both the good guys and the bad guys as the one person who might be able to identify the motive behind the murder. Principal role, right? Important to the plot, right? It wasn't until the credits came up that I even knew the character's name. Was the part where her name is revealed left on the cutting room floor, or was I just seriously not paying attention? I wonder how she is even able to "disappear" when security is crawling all over the arena, detaining people left and right, and here's a woman, covered in blood, and apparently no one takes notice.

There are other disappointments, too, such as when Santoro is being trailed by the film's villain, and recognizes he is being followed when lightning from behind causes an unmistakable shadow. De Palma is successful in mounting some serious tension by focusing on certain parts of the villain's shadow, and utilizing Ryuichi Sakamoto's dramatic score. However, there is zero payoff as Santoro simply turns around and faces his antagonist, rather than pull some fancy move and commence the final struggle. Unfortunately, the film's climax, when it does occur, depends so much on coincidence it's laughable - or at least would be laughable if it weren't such a sorry excuse for wrapping everything up.

Luckily, we are given two good performances by the male leads. Cage is engaging as the over-the-top Santoro; he's up on energy through the first half hour of film, and it's fun to watch him. It would be difficult to take it for the full running time, however, so his character is graciously toned down as the sobering reality of the assassination takes hold. Cage also plays well off of Sinise, who's Dunne is straight man to Cage's Santoro for the first part of the movie, but who soon enough gets to distance himself and command his own scenes. I sometimes wonder if Sinise can play a role badly.

SNAKE EYES is a film that starts out with a lot of potential, but founders along the way to a decidedly unsatisfying finish. Cage and Sinise save portions of the movie, but in the end the screenplay does not rise above the level of ordinary, and occasionally dips below that.

    Review posted August 31, 1998

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