If you love camp and fun.... Please people, this is great bit of fun. This movie cannot be expected to suspend your disbelief. Even though the director keeps tossing blood around, it is so far off that you can't possibly take any of it seriously. It's a send up folks, keystone cops, over the top.... If you want a serious cops and killers, go back to TV, "Law and Order." My god the dialogue is fun, over done, a great party. Listen to it. Cut the film critic crap. You are showing your film naivete.
When Bad Noir Happens To Good Actors--A Delightfully Demented Bit Of Fun I'm going to say it right from the beginning-- I absolutely loved this bit of overheated Southern noir. I'm not going to pretend that it is a particularly good movie, but as trashy fun--it hit all the right notes. And all of the things that others have listed as the film's shortcomings are positively endearing. It is delightfully bad in a very great way. Why? It's got to be traced to the screenplay. The ludicrous banter between the cops is priceless, they reference sex and Jim Thompson in equal measures--as if talking about hard boiled noir will make this picture more legitimate. And the dialogue between the kidnappers is so cliche ridden, so colorful, so out of left field. Believable? Not a bit--but super entertaining in an off-kilter way.
In "Judas Kiss," a quartet of impossibly attractive kidnappers stage an elaborate plan to ransom off a software tycoon. As they are executing their plan, a woman stumbles upon them and must be murdered to prevent an eyewitness statement. This, as you might imagine, complicates the plan and all must deal with the implications. A couple of cops looking into this sordid mess are played by Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson. With charmingly bad accents, these great actors are a sight to behold. My favorite moment is provided by Thompson undercover in a knit cap on roller blades--trust me, she blends right in!
The kidnappers are all played by appealing and somewhat famous actors. Carla Gugino is ostensibly the lead character and narrator of our story. Smart and sexy, and usually better than her material, I often wonder why she's not a major star. She is hysterical here is full blown sex kitten mode. Simon Baker provides the requisite beefcake action as her often shirtless boyfriend. Gil Bellows is cool and calculating, while Til Sweiger is the "crazy" comedic muscle character. It's all a lot of fun.
In a bizarre effort to sex up the proceedings, we get some nice wacko moments. Two times, a sci-fi porno is being watched by characters within the film. These cheesy, nudity filled sequences add nothing to the story and a sane person would have to question why they are included at all. We also get the romantic backstory, told in flashback, of two of the kidnappers. Absolutely unnecessary and grinding the action to a halt, it is still a major hoot. How else would we get to see Gugino spanked by a violin and receiving oral sex while dangling from a meat hook in a supermarket freezer. Genius!
I'd probably give this about 4 1/2 stars because I love it in a deranged way--but I'll let it slide with a 3. I don't want to oversell it's actual merit. Try it if you're in the mood for a bit of ridiculousness. KGHarris, 11/06.
Oh, the ACCENTS!!!!! I'm gonna start and say I did enjoy the movie, but Alan & Emma seriously could've used a good dialect coach. I'm from New Orleans, the majority of us do not talk like that! Alan's never been good at playing American accents, there's always a hint of his British that pokes through, but he did give a solid performance.
A Must for Rickman and Thompson fans!! I initially watched this film because of my favorite actor Alan Rickman. And while I enjoyed his performance here(as well as Emma Thompson's), I felt the movie wasn't all that great. I didn't get really interested in the plot until halfway through the movie. The only scenes I enjoyed were the ones with Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson, it was a really interesting choice having two well loved and well respected British actors play these parts, and if you can get past the accents,(Alan did a better job than Emma, but that is because he has "the voice") which at times was hard to understand, they did an awesome job with these roles. The story revolves around a group of kidnappers led by Carla Gugino. They kidnap a computer genius (played by Greg Wise-real life husband of Emma Thompson), but then turns into murder when Carla's character murders the Senator's wife. There is a government conspiracy which Det. David Friedman(Alan Rickman) tries to uncover. Emma plays the FBI agent Sadie Hawkins. I wouldn't recommend this film unless you are a fan of Alan Rickman or Emma Thompson, or if you are a big fan of film noir.
Fun and enjoyable film noir "Judas Kiss" is one of those movies that is both a tribute to and a send up of the film noir genre. Think "3000 Miles to Graceland" only not as tightly plotted. The ensemble cast is great and the whole "are they going to get away with it?" plotline is well done although I feel that some of the clues should have been shown to the audience earlier in the film rather than towards the end. Everyone in the cast does a good job, but I would agree that Carla Gugino gives a stand out performance with good support from Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson as the cops. Rickman, looking like an unmade bed, plays the world-weary, but ultimately honest Det. Friedman. Thompson is sassy and fun as the tough and unconventional F.B.I. agent, Sadie Hawkins. I would describe the overall look of the film as "jazzy"--slick and sharp while being sensual as well. If you enjoy film noir as much as I do, definitely pick up a copy of this film. I can only hope that they will be bringing in out on DVD soon.
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