Gary Oldman is Jack Grimaldi, a dirty cop who is playing the FBI off against the Mafia. While the Feds want him to protect Russian gangster Mona Demarkov (Lena Olin), the Mafia want him to kill her and will pay him handsomely for doing so. However, Demarkov is a sexy femme fatale who proves to be more than a match for Grimaldi, and he ends up finding himself in all manner of dangerous situations, and unintentionally placing his girlfriend Sherri (Juliette Lewis) and his long suffering wife Natalie (Annabella Sciorra) in danger.
I felt that the movie took a little time to get going, but once it did, there was no let up! Oldman is superb as always; he is an actor that can seemingly portray any character and do it brilliantly. He seemed to have his tongue planted firmly in his cheek for much of the movie, perhaps acknowledging that certain scenes were ludicrous although very entertaining. Lena Olin also has great fun with the psychopathic Demarkov, although she spends much of the movie flashing her underwear and much of her body.
This movie is a thriller and definitely comes under the heading of Film Noir – however it does have some very comical undertones. Be aware though, that it does have a lot of sexual content and violence.
Year of release: 1993
Director: Peter Medak
Writer: Hilary Henkin
Main cast: Gary Oldman, Lena Olin, Annabella Sciorra, Juliet Lewis
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