Review of Storyville (1992) by Ben R — 18 Jul 2011

I was pretty disappointed in this when I saw it for the first time recently. James Spader did a decent job as always but the rest of the movie just kinda farts around at a slow pace,which is ok but it takes so long for stuff to happen.You kinda just don't care anymore when you finally get the pay off. This was supposed to be some kind of a political thriller but it never really makes you feel like the main character is ever in any real danger. James Spader plays the son of a congressman in Storyville Lousiana, who's father dies during a hunting trip, so Spader decides to take over for his dad in his congressional race to remain in office. During his campaign bizarre and strange people come in and out of his life to either warm him or try and hurt him. The suspense with all this is kinda lackluster and it could have been so much better. The rest of the cast kinda just looks bored and Jason Robards was really showing his age here.Piper Laurie seems comatose and nut bag crazy like she usually is.Michael parks plays a decent asshole character like he usually does, and the rest of the cast is kinda blah.

I think movies like this were the reason why James Spader never became a super well known leading man up there with the likes of Alec Baldwin or Charlie Sheen. He made too many of these so so decent movies and only a few mega winners that made him a well known name in hollywood. Its such a shame that hes now replacing Steve Carell on the soon to be cancelled Office,instead of still making top hollywood films or starting another award winning show like Boston Legal.