Review of Snake Eyes (1998) by Melvin W — 18 Jun 2012

'Ricky' Santoro: It isn't lying! You just tell them what you did right, and you leave out the rest! .

"Believe everything except your eyes.".

Snake Eyes is a tale of two halves. The first half was amazing, exciting, and just a great setup for a thriller. The second half didn't live up to the standards of the first, and ended up only disappointing me. Still, this was an interesting and cool film from De Palma. It isn't up there with his best, but it is still a lively and entertaining thriller. The endings disappointment may be a little too much for most, but I was able to get over it and still find enjoyment with the whole production. Even when the movie ended up running out of steam at about the hour mark; it still managed to be pretty cool and never got boring. Part of the entertainment is the eccentric performance from Nicholas Cage. This performance from him came when he wasn't a complete laughingstock. I am one of the few who actually like his eccentric performances in movies like this and Bad Lieutenant. It's when he sleepwalks through performances in shitty movies, that I hate him. .

I'll only talk about the setup for Snake Eyes as I don't want to give away too many details. Ricky is a corrupt cop, who is at a heavyweight fight. He has money down on the favorite. As the fight goes on, he and everyone else witness an assassination. He, along with his naval friend, try to figure out everyone who was behind this; as it wasn't just the shooter. There's a major plot twist that De Palma sort of undersells, but probably because it was predictable. The film could have taken a few different routes and the one Koepp and De Palma chose may not be the best, but as it is, it isn't too bad. .

Just don't expect another masterpiece from De Palma with Snake Eyes. It is definitely not up to standards with the best of his work. Still, it is a cool little thriller. Nothing more and nothing less. When looked at as it is, it isn't too bad. I know a lot of people hate it just because it has another wacky performance from Cage. More people hate it because the ending didn't really wrap it up in a satisfactory way. For me, I like it because of Cage and because of the amazing setup. It could have been much better, but it is a decent effort nonetheless. .