Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

jlthornb51 Why director Barbet Schroder felt it necessary to remake a classic film and then do it so badly is a mystery. David Caruso is awful and the rest of a fine cast wasted in this travesty. The gifted Kathryn Erbe does well in a poorly written role as the woman who stands by Caruso through thick and thin. She is superb but at times the character's devotion seems completely bizarre. Erbe deserved better. Overall, the movie is utterly ridiculous and except for the supporting cast, another David Caruso big screen fiasco. Even with a great director and surrounded by wonderful actors, Caruso just can not carry a motion picture.

Spikeopath Kiss of Death is directed by Barbet Schroeder and collectively written by Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer, Eleazar Lipsky and Richard Price. It stars David Caruso, Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Helen Hunt, Ving Rhames, Stanley Tucci, Kathryn Erbe, Michael Rapaport and Anthony Heald. Music is by Trevor Jones and cinematography by Luciano Tovoli. Reformed ex-con Jimmy Kilmartin (Caruso) reluctantly helps out his cousin transporting stolen cars but gets caught and ends up taking the fall for the whole caper. Back in prison and missing his wife and child, Jimmy gets offered a lifeline if he is prepared to go undercover with the police to bring down psychotic crime boss Little Junior Brown (Cage). A loose remake of the excellent 1947 film noir of the same name, Schroeder's Kiss of Death is slightly better than the iffy reputation afforded it. Yes it's more solid than anything resembling truly compelling, but it wears its noir heart on its sleeve and is very well performed by an impressive cast. Caruso's Kilmartin is a classic noir protagonist, a man who tries to go straight but gets dragged into a world of crime and shifty undercover machinations after doing one honest intention favour. From the point he agrees to help out Ronnie Gannon (Rapaport a jumping bean performance), he loses what he holds most dear and continually gets pulled from pillar to post by everyone around him. He's basically a good guy that fate has dealt a deadly hand, even when he gets a second chance at happiness it's not long before the door knocks and he's thrust into a deadly undercover game where he will be lucky to escape with his life intact. A lot has been made of TV star Caruso's unsuccessful attempt at breaking into films, with some believing that his performance here is mostly to blame. Yet in the context of a noir protagonist his performance is perfectly good, in fact it's a very subtle turn that isn't short on brooding intensity. That he is overshadowed by the likes of Cage (wonderfully on full tilt overdrive as a nut-case) and Jackson (calm yet assured presence) is no bad thing, especially since both come with noir infected ticks (Jackson has a continuous weeping eye/Cage has a phobia about metal in his mouth). Caruso does good here, bringing the character to life without histrionics, he helps the audience understand his frustration as he spins in his vortex of disharmony. Nobody is done any favours by a screenplay that doesn't take chances, and at times it comes close to standing still in the mid-section, while the climax is a little underwhelming. But for a piece of pulpy neo-noir it has enough about it to make it worth a look. 6.5/10

JohnLeeT As with any role she assays, Kathryn Erbe creates a character of such depth and meaning that she deservedly receives most of the attention of audiences. Here, she takes an underwritten part and through her compassion, spirituality, and sensuality makes the film her own. Anyone who has watched her on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, OZ, Homicide: Life On the Street on television, or seen the films Dream With the Fishes, 3 Backyards, or especially and most notably Blume In Love, realizes Ms. Erbe is an actor's actor. She is certainly one of the most gifted women working as an actor in any medium. Over the course of Criminal Intent, she was able to keep the character of Eames fresh and real while holding her own with grace as her co-star did everything possible to overshadow her. There was, however, no ignoring Ms. Erbe's presence. The film now being discussed is a weak remake and not very good, simply put. Yet Kathryn Erbe makes her part shine and with a subtle power makes her character outstanding. She deserves an opportunity in better quality films to demonstrate how gifted and talented she is. She has done this time after time on stage and whether in film or on television, audiences are always in for something very special when her name appears in the credits.

j-lacerra When I saw the 1947 original as a kid, nothing made an impression on me as did Richard Widmark as Tommy Udo. This new version tried to duplicate the menace of that character with Nick Cage playing a somewhat loony gangster, Little Junior Brown. Cage does a great job with the character, but is no Tommy Udo. But that is the gist of this version's problems: casting.We have David Caruso sleepwalking his way through as Jimmy Kilmartin, sort of the hero of the tale. Caruso is a truly one-dimensional actor. He has one expression, one tone of voice, one loss of composure schtick. Despite his flaming red hair, Caruso has virtually no screen presence. Nick Cage would have made a much better Kilmartin.Ving Rhaymes is under-utilized as Junior's gangster customer (and more). He'd have made a compelling Little Junior Brown. Samuel L. Jackson would have been better as the Ving Rhaymes character, and Stanley Tucci(?) and the actor Heald could have improved by switching parts.Helen Hunt (Bev Kilmartin) is killed off early in the movie, as Jimmy's first wife. She'd have been much better as the second wife, who gets to be in the entire movie.Most other casting in KOD is comparably off the mark.The movie is sometimes confusing and complex, yet at the same time draggy and predictable. It all leads to an unsatisfying and anti-climactic ending in which nothing is truly resolved beyond doubt.This is not a totally bad movie, it is just not a very good one. It lacks the grittiness and menace of the original, but adds nothing new to take up the slack except some graphic violence.