This is a hard-boiled, film noir crime fiction drama that is big on ambition, but low on production budget. There are a ton of familiar character actor faces in this flick: M. Emmet Walsh (The Jerk, Raising Arizona, Blade Runner), Richard Edson (Platoon, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Strange Days), and Nick Mancuso (Under Siege, Total Recall 2070, Wild Palms) to name a few. The movie is set in Las Vegas, and coincidentally, a large chunk of the actors have also appeared in CSI Las Vegas. The plot is complicated, everyone has a quasi-New-York-tough-guy accents, the music is incessant, and the movie seemingly spent all of their budget on a few explosions shot in ultra slow motion. So much so, that I guess they didn't have enough money left towards the end of the movie to pay for fake blood or squibs, instead settling on gunshot noises and close ups of people's faces as they are shot. Aerial shots of Las Vegas are shaky, as if they didn't have the cash for a steady cam rig, or could only afford the low budget stock footage. Car chases seem to go on a little too long, as if they are there solely to fill time. Production issues aside, I thought that this is the perfect sort of low-budget movie to watch on Showtime or Cinemax late at night when you can't get to sleep. You can surf on your computer or do other stuff while the movie enters slow spots, and occasionally give the film your full attention during a shoot out or sex scene. This, like so many other movies in the Film Noir genre, would have greatly benefited from an increase in budget. I've seen episodes of Walker Texas Ranger with higher production values. But, they did the best with what they had. I wouldn't rent or buy this flick, but if it was on late at night and I couldn't sleep, I'd watch it. Hey, I just did. :-)
Review of Jack of Hearts
