Kiss of Death (2004, DVD)

Recalling the first reviews of "Raging Bull": 'This unblinking portrait of a two-fisted ape man is hard to take"...well, multiply that a couple of times and you come up with what Schroeder did with the classic "Kiss of Death", and if you can sit through it, you'll probably end up loving it. Nicholas Cage virtually did a De Niro with this one, putting on a couple of slabs of beef in playing Little Junior, a psychotic lieutenant in his Dad, Big Junior's Mafia crew. They've got a major car theft ring and chop shop raking in the megabucks, but they're not so flashy with the bucks, indulging most..

First off, there should be a law against standard TV channels (in this case FOX) dubbing out foul language. If you are showing an R rated movie late at night then small tykes who are natural taperecorders (and repeaters) should be tucked away. We adults have heard and probably said far worse that it's not going to do us any more harm. After all, there's nothing more stupid or humorous than hearing "YOU mother *

When David Caruso made headlines by leaving the hit TV show "NYPD Blue," the question people were asking was "Is he making a mistake?" Looking back on his career the past few years, we have to say that he did. But you couldn't tell that from his performance in "Kiss of Death." He's actually quite good. Caruso plays Jimmy Kilmartin, a reformed car thief with a wife and baby who is desperately trying to go straight. Before he does, though, he reluctantly agrees to help his worthless cousin Ronny (Michael Rapaport) on one last run. If he doesn't, then Little Junior (Nicholas Cage), a sadistic...

There's really not a lot to say, this movie is very disappointing and a waste of time. The names on the box are impressive, since nearly all of them are either big stars now or high profile supporting players. We're talking Nicholas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Ving Rhames, and Helen Hunt. Add in Stanley Tucci and Michael Rapaport. So I guess the problem is right off the bat with casting. Instead of focusing on these characters, we get David Caruso. Any of those actors mentioned before had more presence and was more interesting than Mr. Caruso and that is a problem the film has right from the...