This movie suffers from what I've come to think of as "Broadcast News Syndrome." You know the symptoms: a movie comes to a satisfying conclusion, one you could gladly accept and feel good about, but then it goes crashing into an annoying and unnecessary epilogue. Like "Broadcast News," however, if you cut away the final five minutes or so before the end credits run, what remains is a worthy film. In spite of this glaring problem, "Snake Eyes" is a whip-smart thriller that teases, reveals, suggests, hides, and tears at breakneck pace through a convoluted cover-up that would do the greatest conspiracy theorist proud. Director Brian DePalma is an inconsistent master whose films are always a crapshoot; for every "The Untouchables" (undeniable triumph), there's also a "Mission: Impossible" (slick, empty success), a "Bonfire of the Vanities" (dismal clunker) and a "Raising Cain" (guilty pleasure). This film falls into the triumph category, although perhaps a qualified one. Ably aided and abetted by dizzying, sinuous cinematography and Nicolas Cage's wild-eyed, no-holds-barred performance, it all comes together in an unsettling, exhilarating concoction that works.
Review of Snake Eyes
