# Montana (1998)

### reviewed by
Dennis Schwartz

MONTANA (director: Jennifer Leitzes; screenwriter:Erich Hoeber/Jon Hoeber; cinematographer: Ken Kelsch; editor: Norman Buckley; cast: Stanley Tucci (Nick Roth), Kyra Sedgwick (Claire Kelsky), Robbie Coltrane (Boss), Robin Tunney (Kitty), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Duncan), John Ritter (Dr. Wexler), Ethan Embry (Jimmy), Paul Calderon (Boulez), Jerry Grayson (Benny), Richard Zobel (Simms), 1998)

    Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

I think I've seen this film before: it's called Pulp Fiction. But that aside, this is a very funny crime caper, involving double-crosses, kidnappings, and outrageous shootouts. It is stylized noir-- meaning noir is no more to be taken seriously as in the post-WW11 noir films. It is now used by many directors as a spoof of the genre, as it is here, by the first-time woman director, Jennifer Leitzes. The film relies on its characters to make things happen, as the story really is too slight to do the complete job, of making Montana bigger than the small state of mind it is.

Nick Roth (Tucci) is dying of cancer. Claire Kelsky (Sedgwick) is Nick's hit man partner in the big city syndicate, with the big boss being Robbie Coltrane, someone Claire has worked for during the last twelve years and is very loyal to, as she feels she owns him all that she has.

The title of the film is derived from Montana being thought of as a symbol of what is ideal, an escape from the rotten world of big cities and crime. It is the state to go to when one is through trying to play the crime game or thinks about when one is dying and needs to be comforted.

Claire and Nick bring in an Asian bagman who robbed their boss but who doesn't have the money on him. In a very funny scene, where they get the wrong Asian, at first, in the trunk of their car and when they realize their mistake toss him out on the gutter and get the Asian they wanted, and then cuff him to the radiator in the boss's headquarters so they can sweat the information of where the money is out of him. But they are being set-up by the organization's moneyman, Duncan (Philip Seymour Hoffman). He gets the boss's ear and poison-tongues the only two in the syndicate who remain loyal to the boss.

The boss's sexy girlfriend Kitty (Tunney), who wants to leave the boss but can't, slips the handcuffed bagman a gun. When the boss interrogates the bagman, he tries to kill the boss before revealing where the money is. Nick shoots him before he can fire. Meanwhile, Kitty has taken a powder, and the boss doesn't know who gave the bagman the gun, concluding that he wasn't searched properly.

As a punishment for screwing up, the boss sends Claire and Nick, to retrieve the money. He also insists they take along his obnoxious and mentally deficient son, Jimmy (Embry). Nick tracks the suitcase of money down by talking with the bagman's wife. Meanwhile Claire and Jimmy locate Kitty, but when Claire leaves him alone with Kitty, junior wants to rape her and, as he gets on top of her, Kitty grabs his gun and blows his head off. Nick and Claire know they are in trouble now, that it will be hard to explain this to the boss. But Claire says she has faith that the boss will trust her after all those years together. Nick tells her not to go alone to the boss.

Another partner of the boss's, a silent one, Dr. Thomas Wexler (Ritter), who has written a book on the Step Program, one of those self-help motivational books, that has gotten him quite a following, is doing an infomercial when Claire and Nick approach him. He is the one who gave the money to the bagman, and he reveals to them that he has hired Duncan and most of the men in the boss's organization to double-cross the boss.

Wexler orders his men to kill Claire, and in a funny scene Claire is seen digging her grave while two of the gangsters watch, as a little boy curious as to what she is doing questions her. Claire will outwit the men and kill them. The little boy returns, curiously seeing her now filling up the hole and wanting to know where the men are. There is also a spoof shootout scene, with all the boss's men coming after Claire and Nick in a swank hotel room, their guns blazing away. It was scenes like this, coming in flashes, that kept the film alive.

Stanley Tucci is a marvelous actor and is a joy to watch here. Kyra Sedgwick works well with Tucci and significantly adds to the farcical nature of the film. Philip Seymour Hoffman never gives a bad performance; here he is the creepy turncoat, a part he can do in his sleep by now. But he does it well. The high level of acting raises this ordinary film in stature, but does not make it into anything more than a highly entertaining and derivative film.

    REVIEWED ON 3/28/2000       GRADE: B-

Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"

    http://www.sover.net/~ozus

    ozus@sover.net

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ

The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews