De Palma continues perfecting his brilliant visual style within the most blatantly artificial plot scenarios.
Snake Eyes (1998)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:63
Fresh:26
Rotten:37
Average Rating:5.3/10
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis: From its incredible opening tracking shot to its suspenseful finale, this Brian De Palma thriller maintains a giddy, fever pitch of cinematic style and excitement. Nicolas Cage stars as Atlantic... From its incredible opening tracking shot to its suspenseful finale, this Brian De Palma thriller maintains a giddy, fever pitch of cinematic style and excitement. Nicolas Cage stars as Atlantic City detective Ritchie Santoro (his explosive energy and flashy clothes mirror the tone of the film), who finds himself heading a high-level investigation after the U.S. secretary of defense is assassinated at the championship fight he's attending. Ritchie's old pal Naval Commander Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise) was assigned to guard the secretary and now fears for his career. A mysterious beautiful woman in white (Carla Gugino) has something to do with the case but is lost amid the 14,000 spectators trapped in the sealed-off arena crime scene. Meanwhile, a raging hurricane is tearing up the boardwalk outside, and as Ritchie begins to unravel the mystery through the casino's massive camera security system, he discovers truths he'd just as soon not have known about. Taking place almost entirely within the confines of the arena and casino on a single dark and stormy night, SNAKE EYES zips along merrily, delivering loads of glitzy atmosphere and fun, Hichcock-style suspense. The appropriately Bernard Herrmann-esque music score is by Ryuichi Sakamoto. [More]
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise, John Heard, Carla Gugino
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise, John Heard, Carla Gugino, Kevin Dunn, Stan Shaw, Luis Guzmán, Michael Rispoli, David Anthony Higgins
Director: Brian De Palma
Director: Brian De Palma
Producer: Brian De Palma
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Reviews for Snake Eyes
Brian De Palma's exercise in flashy paranoia and shallow cynicism comes out of the gate like gangbusters, but falls apart in a flurry of preposterous plotting.
Wispy threads of dramatic plausibility and character involvement unravel completely by the time of the incredibly silly final reel.
Aside from a sensational, continuous 20-minute opening take, and an amazing shot that literally swoops over the top of a row of hotel rooms, there's little of interest here.
Never loses its bearings as it hovers between preposterous paranoia and a Billy-Wilder-like moral fable about a deeply flawed hero who draws a line in the sand beyond which he cannot go.
Snake Eyes is about multiple perceptions of one major event, their relationship to each other and to the audience.
The first 20 minutes of Snake Eyes are among the most imaginative and energetic minutes of film I've seen in a while.
The film echoes the technical wizardry and complex plotting of De Palma's best film, Blow Out.
A moderately suspenseful thriller that seems somewhat conventional compared to De Palma's earlier envelope-pushing efforts. Intriguing, but the mystery villain is rather obvious from the start.
Unfortunately, the material that De Palma chooses to hang his flair on feels like a paltry version of No Way Out as if penned by Crichton or Grisham.
I give De Palma and company credit for not succumbing to the usual bloat we see in big-budget Hollywood films.
The mundane plot of Snake Eyes is disguised with lots of camera razzle-dazzle.
Promises to be a masterpiece, only to succumb to Hollywood mediocrity -- just like its director.
A dazzling piece of entertainment -- a mystery so cleverly constructed you find yourself wanting to see it again before it's over.
DePalma, a director who chooses his projects carefully, has scored again.
The film that not only made me give up on Brian DePalma -- the man can't make a good movie anymore -- but it also made me doubt the judgement of Nicolas Cage and Gary Sinise.
It is a bravura display of acting from Mr. Cage, and equally dazzling work from director Brian De Palma.
Latest News for Snake Eyes
October 17, 2007:
Nicolas Cage Joins The Vanished
Focus Features has arranged for Nicolas Cage to join the ranks of The Vanished. More...
May 11, 2007:
Nic Cage Cast As Capone In "Untouchables" Sequel
Nicolas Cage is set to slide into the role of mobster Al Capone in a prequel to 1987's "The Untouchables" that will examine the gangster's early years and rise to power. More...
March 07, 2006:
Spielberg Puts Koepp to Work on "Indy 4"
During his Oscar coverage, Fox's Roger Friedman got to share a few words with director Steven Spielberg, and the bullet points seem to be these: 1) the filmmaker wants to take... More...
January 05, 2006:
Gugino Accepts "Museum" Duty
The lovely Carla Gugino, who made one heck of an impression last year with her "Sin City" performance, will soon star opposite Ben Stiller in Shawn Levy's... More...
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