Suicide Kings

Year: 1997

Grade: C-

Country: USA

Director: Fleischer

Review

all fart and no shit. that’s a little harsh actually. seriously though, the film tried to be a lot more than it ended up being and it’s hard to describe where and how it failed. it’s like moby’s latest (hopefully last) album – it tried to be all things to everyone. it tried to have comedy (some jokes worked, others didn’t), action (not action so much as mafia tough guy posturing), drama (denis leary beating up an abuser of women), and mystery (the david mamet twists at the end). unfortunately it didn’t wholly succeed in any of these categories and what resulted was a mish-mash of potential gone mostly wrong. denis leary turned in a decent performance and christopher walken carried the film. some of the jokes worked and it passed the time for the first half of the film so it wasn’t a complete waste. the direction showed some ambition, but not all that much talent. story-telling is the most overlooked aspect of filmmaking in this mtv age. i know i sound old when i say that, but it’s true. oliver stone used mtv style filmmaking with great success in natural born killers so i’m not against it, but you have to know how to tell a story before you start experimenting with that kind of stuff. but i digress…you’re better off watching made (which also had its problems) or lock stock and two smoking barrels (which had style and substance).