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Phoenix (1998)
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by Vidmark / Trimark
Sales Rank: 44643
Price: $14.99
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The "Forget it, Jake, this is Chinatown" line in this well-cast contemporary noir comes near the story's end, when a female truck driver tells wounded fugitive-cop Harry Collins (Ray Liotta) that the desert town of Phoenix--built on sand and sustained by diverted water--has "no right to exist." Well, that would explain the sense of blurred virtue and vice portrayed in this film, the tale of a detective with a gambling problem and his three partners (Anthony LaPaglia, Daniel Baldwin, Jeremy Piven) manifesting varying levels of corruption. Written by Eddie Richey and directed by Danny Cannon, this expletive-rich and violent movie immediately strikes one as yet another Tarantino knock-off. But a handful of genuinely original ideas and scenes, aided immeasurably by a terrific cast that almost seems to lunge at the roles (including Anjelica Huston as an angry bartender who could let herself drift into an affair with Harry), keeps this drama on track. Yes, the plot does include an obligatory screwed-up heist mishandled by the male principals (wearing animal masks--how original!). But in the hands of Liotta and his pals, it all seems well worth it. Nice marks, too, for Tom Noonan's weird portrayal of a cruel bookie, Giancarlo Esposito's poisonous work as a loan shark, and Kari Wuhrer's all-too-brief scenes as a faithless wife. <I>--Tom Keogh</I>
Viewer Reviews
This movie is better than it deserves to be, probably because it has two cool customers in the lead roles (Liotta and LaPaglia). Witty dialogue and shades of Taratino bring this a couple notches above the Direct-to-Video drek.
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Phoenix (1998)
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