Ben Hecht's original story had enough strength to be carried over into this successful remake, aided by a strong cast. I'm not sure how much the modernization of the script adds to it, but it's worth seeing.
Caruso is a con who, out of concern for his family, rats on some friends when the prosecutor promises him freedom. Things go legally awry and Caruso finds himself and his family being hunted by the chief thug (Nicholas Cage) while the police (Stanley Tucci and Steven Jackson) provide a simulacrum of protection. Finally Caruso takes matters in his own hands, confronts Cage in a night club, and is beaten like hell before the cops arrive and put things back in order.
The original script depicted what now seems like an old-fashioned model of the justice system. Good cops vs. bad guys, with the good guys hampered by laws that are too lax. This is brought up to date in that EVERYBODY is corrupt in one way or another, with a few exceptions. Caruso is family-oriented, though a con, and his family and Jackson have their hearts in the right place. But the agents of social control -- both federal and state -- are petty and bickering. Tucci, the head cop, isn't really interested in bad guy Cage. He wants a federal judgeship or judgehood or judgedom. It's a much more cynical model of the justice system.
The brutality quotient is cubed. Somebody's brains get shot out and splattered all over somebody. Or a suspected snitch is beaten to death with fists and his blood splashes against the wall.
I think the earlier version is superior. For one thing, it was an original, not a copy. And some of the performances here don't measure up to the original's. Kathryn Erbe -- great name in German, by the way -- is a pretty and talented actress but she does not exude the winsome cheerful devotion of the sexy, stupid, beautiful Colleen Gray. David Caruso is a more convincing New Yorker than Louisvilleian Victor Mature was, but his performance is understated compared to Mature's nervous clumsiness. Some of the roles are just differently interpreted. Where Brian Donleavy was a stolidly ethical prosecutor, Stanley Tucci is transparently reptilian. Who would believe Tucci when he claims to be "a man of honor"? And, of course, there is nothing in this remake that looks even vaguely like Richard Widmark's Tommy Udo in his wolfman wig, nor any scene quite as terrible as Widmark's pushing the old lady strapped in her wheelchair down the stairs. At the time THAT was more shocking a scene that all the current bloodshed and poundings put together. That's what I mean by "original."
Still, not a bad movie on its own.
Caruso is a con who, out of concern for his family, rats on some friends when the prosecutor promises him freedom. Things go legally awry and Caruso finds himself and his family being hunted by the chief thug (Nicholas Cage) while the police (Stanley Tucci and Steven Jackson) provide a simulacrum of protection. Finally Caruso takes matters in his own hands, confronts Cage in a night club, and is beaten like hell before the cops arrive and put things back in order.
The original script depicted what now seems like an old-fashioned model of the justice system. Good cops vs. bad guys, with the good guys hampered by laws that are too lax. This is brought up to date in that EVERYBODY is corrupt in one way or another, with a few exceptions. Caruso is family-oriented, though a con, and his family and Jackson have their hearts in the right place. But the agents of social control -- both federal and state -- are petty and bickering. Tucci, the head cop, isn't really interested in bad guy Cage. He wants a federal judgeship or judgehood or judgedom. It's a much more cynical model of the justice system.
The brutality quotient is cubed. Somebody's brains get shot out and splattered all over somebody. Or a suspected snitch is beaten to death with fists and his blood splashes against the wall.
I think the earlier version is superior. For one thing, it was an original, not a copy. And some of the performances here don't measure up to the original's. Kathryn Erbe -- great name in German, by the way -- is a pretty and talented actress but she does not exude the winsome cheerful devotion of the sexy, stupid, beautiful Colleen Gray. David Caruso is a more convincing New Yorker than Louisvilleian Victor Mature was, but his performance is understated compared to Mature's nervous clumsiness. Some of the roles are just differently interpreted. Where Brian Donleavy was a stolidly ethical prosecutor, Stanley Tucci is transparently reptilian. Who would believe Tucci when he claims to be "a man of honor"? And, of course, there is nothing in this remake that looks even vaguely like Richard Widmark's Tommy Udo in his wolfman wig, nor any scene quite as terrible as Widmark's pushing the old lady strapped in her wheelchair down the stairs. At the time THAT was more shocking a scene that all the current bloodshed and poundings put together. That's what I mean by "original."
Still, not a bad movie on its own.