Review of Snake Eyes (1998) by Dustin R — 08 May 2010

(from The Watermark, 08/20/98).

Director Brain DePalma weaves an intriguing suspense thriller. Cage plays the sleazy cop to end all sleazy cops. From moment one, we know he is dishonest, conniving, cheating, scheming, and full of himself. At a high-profile Atlantic City prizefight, he is three seats away from the assassination of the Secretary of Defense. As Cage helps his military officer goody-two-shoes best friend Sinise investigate the case, Cage finds corruption that makes even him uncomfortable. The story is wonderfully photographed and the script is cleverly structured with repeated flashbacks seen from different points-of-view. DePalma is no dummy: this impressive whodunit mystery capitalizes on all of the elements of an ancient Greek morality play. Apparently the classics still work. Only gripe: the theme could have been focused better with a few dialogue changes.