Snake Eyes (1998)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writers (WGA):

Brian De Palma (story) &
David Koepp (story) ...

Release Date:

7 August 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Believe Everything Except Your Eyes

Plot:

A shady police detective finds himself in the middle of a murder conspiracy at an important boxing match in an Atlantic City casino.

Plot Keywords:

Boxing | Conspiracy | Assassination | Casino | Murder

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Nicolas Cage	...	Rick Santoro
Gary Sinise	...	Commander Kevin Dunne
John Heard	...	Gilbert Powell
Carla Gugino	...	Julia Costello
Stan Shaw	...	Lincoln Tyler
Kevin Dunn	...	Lou Logan
Michael Rispoli	...	Jimmy George
Joel Fabiani	...	Charles Kirkland
Luis Guzmán	...	Cyrus (as Luis Guzman)
David Anthony Higgins	...	Ned Campbell
Mike Starr	...	Walt McGahn
Tamara Tunie	...	Anthea
Chip Zien	...	Mickey Alter
Michaella Bassey	...	Tyler's Party Girl #2
Paul Joseph Bernardo	...	Casino Security #1

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Philippines:PG-13 | Iceland:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Italy:T | Mexico:B | Netherlands:16 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) (cut) | Singapore:PG (original rating) (cut) | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:14A | Canada:G (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Company:

DeBart

Trivia:

The ringside drunk says, "Here come comes the pain," a line also spoken in another Brian De Palma film, Carlito's Way (1993).

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: A tidal wave originally planned was removed from the film, but not entirely: - The wave can be seen briefly in a few frames as the police van arrives near the film's end. It hits the van, which begins to fall over. In the next shot, the van merely swerves into the building. - Richard Santoro mentions a recurring dream about being back in the tunnel underwater; but since the tidal wave sequence was taken out, he was never underwater in the first place.

Quotes:

Kevin Dunne: Don't give me that wounded look. You haven't got the face for it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 22 (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Fiesta Mexicana

I Like This.....Which Surprises Me

Most people didn't like this movie, from what I have heard and read over the years. Some of my friends who saw it didn't like it either. For some reason, I did, and that was despite a few things I normally don't put up with (too much usages of the Lord's name in vain and the usual anti-military agenda.)

However, I found this a very fast-moving, involving story with Nicholas Cage playing an extremely interesting person: "Rick Santoro," a guy who acts like a complete crazy man at the beginning but slowly gets it together as the film goes on. Gary Sinise plays his normal corrupt role (this was before his CSI: New York days) and Carla Gugino was very easy on my eyes.

Brian DePalma directed this, so you know it's going to be stylishly shot, too. This looks very good on DVD.

All the characters are interesting, actually. One complaint I agree with: the ending was a bit weak and detracts from the story. It's a rough film but edgy and interesting. Don't be discouraged reading a lot of negative reviews about this. It's good entertainment.