Snake Eyes (1998)

 

Nicolas Cage Film Fest Movie #7 (Dang – this would have been perfect for my tribute to Atlantic City earlier this year!)

Synopsis: Corrupt cop and implausibly-beautiful guidance systems expert save America from clean-cut, ultra-patriotic Naval officer.

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: From its sensational opening shot to its atmospheric final showdown, Snake Eyes seethes with inventiveness and suspense."

What Did I Learn?: Nobody wants to accept a blood-soaked $100 bill.

You Might Like This Movie If: You only have to hear the words: "Snake Eyes".

Really?: 1) Wow...a whole lot of illegal activity takes place in a building that’s crawling with cops and 14,000 trapped boxing fans. 2) So wait... the conspirators rig a world-championship boxing match in order to pull off an assassination? 3) Wouldn’t a woman covered in blood (and wearing white!) attract a bit more attention than she does? And it’s amazing how well she can get around, considering she’s nearly blind without her glasses. 4) Hmmm... if I were a double-agent Palestinian terrorist, I think I might be a wee bit suspicious if my handlers asked me to pull the trigger on the Secretary of Defense... just sayin’. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but this film has one of the most contrived, and impossibly well-timed endings I’ve ever seen.

Rating: Snake Eyes starts out well with a brilliantly-filmed opening sequence featuring Cage strutting into the boxing auditorium. Unfortunately, the movie starts to fall apart soon after the assassination scene as the storyline becomes increasingly difficult to believe. Cage and his co-stars deliver decent performances (and Carla Gugino is quite sexy!), but otherwise ‘meh’. 6/10 stars.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120832/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1