![]() He retells the action from the viewpoint of this or that character: we sometimes literally see what happened through that character's eyes. Of course, nothing is what it seems to be. And, oh, does DePalma have fun with the whole thing. Constantly in motion, talking on his cell phone (even during a hurricane some of my friends can't use theirs when a cloud passes over the sun), interacting with the low life characters around the casino. Far more compelling is the great fun that Cage has with his character. There's a complex conspiracy underfoot, and conspiracies are low on my list of compelling things- I got burned out on them in the seventies. Admittedly David Koepp and De Palma's script is something of a problem. Self doubt weighs heavily in De Palma's films, and often people's best efforts are to no avail. So there is no guarantee of a happy ending. In the superb BLOW OUT a movie soundman rescues a young woman from a sinking car early in the story, but is too late to save her from a madman at the film's conclusion. ![]() The nicest guy in school couldn't keep the outcast/prom queen CARRIE from humiliation and its awful consequences. A young actor couldn't protect a mysterious, beautiful woman in BODY DOUBLE. An executive couldn't save his wife in OBSESSION. Men in De Palma's films have a way of failing to come through for women in critical situations. And there 's a very real chance that he might give in, or be unable to protect her when the danger gets intense. There's one point where he is offered a million dollars to reveal where one of the women (she knows a lot- too much- about a defense contract, and was talking to the Secretary of Defense when he was shot) is hiding. By the end of the story Cage is working toward redemption- even though during the early part of the film it's made clear that he sees everything as having a price. There are two mysterious women involved in the incident, and as time passes he realizes that there were lots of people involved, possibly even his longtime friend Navy Commander Dunne (Gary Sinese) who is as straight-arrow as Cage's character is sleazy. There's a shooting during the fight, and Cage orders the exits sealed who would go outside into a hurricane remains a mystery, but anyhow. A hurricane (a tv reporter is pressured to refer to it as a 'tropical depression' on the air) is coming ashore, and 14,000 people are gathered at a casino complex to watch a prizefight. It's my sewer, I am the king." It's literally a dark and stormy night. At the beginning of the film we watch Nick Santoro (Nicolas Cage) as he swims through the sewer (his words) that is the Atlantic City casino world. De Palma's camera is constantly in motion, roaming through the arena, casino, and hotel as if it had a life of its own. He made the statement that the camera lies 24 times a second, and SNAKE EYES plays on that theme. Recommended.Overblown, overdirected, overacted: that's why I always enjoy DePalma's movies. Love the lengthy closing credit shot (not so much a fan of the song). Great character actors in support including Kevin Dunn, Luis Guzman, Michael Rispoli, Mike Starr, Tamara Tunie and Stan Shaw. Gary Sinise is good, though it might have been more interesting for that character to be a trusted charismatic friend rather than a clipped, precise soldier from the get go. Carla Gugino is also stellar as the target of the crossfire conspiracy. Cage also gets to do his thing, shifting from over the top showboating to intense investigation and finally to resigned heroism in the face of defeat, all of which is gifted with high emotion by Ryuichi Sakamoto’s gorgeous score. i love it all, particularly De Palma riding high on the box office success of Mission Impossible and going full bells and whistles with the Hollywood train set. While in contrast to De Palma’s earlier classic paranoid thriller Blow Out, this film might seem a bit like a cartoon, it still dazzles with its showmanship: the lengthy opening ‘one take’ shot following dirty cop Rick Santoro (Cage), the Rashomon repetition of what happened at the championship boxing match when an assassination goes down, the overhead journey across all the hotel rooms, the god’s eye nature of the chaotic climax, etc. Over time my love for it has grown alongside my appreciation for both Nicolas Cage as an actor and Brian De Palma as a filmmaker, and I truly think it’s an underrated collaboration. I saw Snake Eyes (1998) at the cinema when I was a teenager and enjoyed it then.
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