If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The first time I saw this, some years ago, I thought it was a pretty good thriller but this time around I must have been more mature, more demanding, more suave and debonair. I thought it sucked.Not the opening, which seems bursting with promise -- a dead man and a satchel full of half a million dollars found in the arid wasteland of New Mexico, the autopsy and the release of the intestinal gas. And not the cast either -- I mean, Mickey Rourke, Willem DaFoe, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Maura Tierney, Samuel L. Jackson, and M. Emmet Walsh? Not to mention the redoubtable Fred Dalton Thompson.But they didn't bring it home, the films promise undercut by weaknesses in the script and the direction.The script. I was frankly confused. Oh, I knew DaFoe was a rural police officer who was adopting the identity of the dead man and taking his half million bananas in order to find the killers. But then he is swept up in some insane gun-running scheme in Santa Fe involving greedy and corrupt federal officers. Mastrantonio is there to provide a curiously attractive face with a smile that stretches from ear to ear. She is instantly attracted to DaFoe when she meets him, and she tells him so. Ten minutes later she is assaulting him in the shower. After a night together, she is deeply in love with him. Only in the movies. I would happily outline the story for you but I can't. If I got into it any more deeply than those few suggestions above, you wouldn't follow it. Or maybe you would, and it's my fault for suffering a few too many periods of microsleep during this viewing.The direction is pedestrian at best. Every other shot seems to be a close up, as if the production were designed for the television screen. And with the exception of the final scene that has Jackson running madly across the rolling, sugary dunes of White Sands National Monument with a suitcase full of sand, no effective use is made of the locations. The exterior of the La Fonda Hotel is real enough though, as is the hotel itself, one of the earliest in North America. It was established by the Statler chain in AD 495. Santa Fe is an artsy city with its own opera and other civilized amenities and deserves better display. I live in the poorest county in the state, but I can lie in the gutter and stare at the stars.It's too bad really, because the performances are as good as they are. Rourke is the perfect slime ball. Mastrantonio signals emotion with barely perceptible winces -- she's really okay. Samuel L. Jackson is full of indignation, authority, and irony.Yet here we are, with more than a million dollars worth of state-of-the-art arms destined for shipment to unidentified rebels, and it shows up for five minutes then disappears from the plot and the movie.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this movie and it is an excellent rental option when you are undecided on what to get in your favorite movie rental service/place. Very good plot, the dialogs are great and the ending is definitely not predictable. Rourke was in his downhill after a flash rise to fame due to 9 1/2 weeks (if you are an 80s guy like me, you know what I mean), but he still gives a good performance and one of his lines was just the best of the whole movie. Samuel Jackson was solid and Dafoe balanced as always. As a bonus the sexiest performance of Mastrantonio in her career. The movie has ups and downs and does not keep you nailed to your chair, but that is the story telling style of the director and I am cool with it.

I had no intention of watching this film,I just had nothing better to do.However,it's worth a watch.There are faults,as there are with most films,but the film is worthy of praise.Willem Dafoe as the small time cop caught up in the mess is a great choice for such a versatile actor.With strong support from the ever-reliable Samuel L.Jackson and the controversial Mickey Rourke.The film works well,it just tries too hard to captivate the audience.Still,I am only one person,I still say this should be watched Enjoy The Film Sean

Here is another modern-day film-noir, featuring interesting characters played by a diverse cast. That cast is led by Willem Dafoe, who reminds me a lot of another noir actor, Dan Duryea.There is the usual corrupt government/military officials angle but the plot does have a few neat twists and is generally a non-nonsense kind of story. However, I did find the storyline a bit confusing, especially in the last half hour. On a second viewing, five years later, a few things cleared up but not a lot. I guess it will take looks to figure out everything, especially the very end.I'm not usually a fan of Elizabeth Mastrantonio, but I thought she was exceptional in here: by far, the best and most interesting character. The movie has a nice soundtrack. Overall, the good outweighs the bad and the somewhat confusing story helps draw me back for future viewings.Aside notes: this must have been one of Samuel L. Jackson's first films because he was listed as "Sam Jackson" in the closing credits. Unbilled were three always-interesting actors: Fred Thompson, Mimi Rogers and Jack P. Ryan.