Snake Eyes (1998)

A shady police detective finds himself in the middle of a murder conspiracy at an important boxing match in an Atlantic City casino.

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writers:

Brian De Palma (story), David Koepp (story)

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise, John Heard

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nicolas Cage	...	Rick Santoro
Gary Sinise	...	Commander Kevin Dunne
John Heard	...	Gilbert Powell
Carla Gugino	...	Julia Costello
Stan Shaw	...	Lincoln Tyler
Kevin Dunn	...	Lou Logan
Michael Rispoli	...	Jimmy George
Joel Fabiani	...	Charles Kirkland
Luis Guzmán	...	Cyrus (as Luis Guzman)
David Anthony Higgins	...	Ned Campbell
Mike Starr	...	Walt McGahn
Tamara Tunie	...	Anthea
Chip Zien	...	Mickey Alter
Michaella Bassey	...	Tyler's Party Girl #2
Paul Joseph Bernardo	...	Casino Security #1

Storyline

Ricky Santoro is a flamboyant and corrupt Atlantic City cop with a dream: become so well connected that he can become mayor. In lieu of that, he'll settle for keeping his comfortable lifestyle. On the night of the heavyweight boxing championship, Rick becomes mixed up in the assassination of the Secretary of Defense, an assassination involving his best friend. Becoming the investigating officer in the case, Rick soon uncovers a conspiracy to kill the Secretary and a mysterious woman in white. The conspiracy was shocking, but not half as shocking as the identity of its mastermind.

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Plot Keywords:

long take | mini skirt | pantyhose | white pantyhose | boxing | 

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Taglines:

Watch Closely

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 August 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Snake Eyes

Filming Locations:

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$73,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,310,373, 9 August 1998

Gross USA:

$55,591,409

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$103,891,409

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, DeBart, Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Brian De Palma's second film set in Atlantic City, the first being Wise Guys (1986).

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Goofs

After Commander Dunne has him beaten up by Tyler, Santoro spits a mouthful of blood onto Dunne's medal ribbons. Dunne tries to wipe off the blood with a handkerchief but since the ribbons are made of cloth, it's obvious he's not going to be able to get the stain off by just wiping them. But in Dunne's next scene, his ribbons are spotlessly clean.

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Quotes

Commander Kevin Dunne: This isn't a beach town anymore. It's a sewer.
Rick Santoro: But it's my sewer, Jiminy, and I love it. I kick around about six square blocks. Everybody knows me. I got the whole town wired. Someday, if I manage to get my face on TV a few times, maybe I'll run for mayor or something, but that's as far as I want to go. Because I was made for this sewer, baby,
[stands up, arms outstretched]
Rick Santoro: and I am the king!

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Crazy Credits

The end credits scroll over a construction site scene (presumably the new casino), closing in tighter and tighter until the final shot is of a bright red jewel embedded in a concrete pillar that the workmen are installing. Most of the time the jewel is hidden under the hand of one of the workers. The ring was worn by the red-haired woman/Navy agent who was part of Commander Kevin Dunn's scheme.

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Connections

Featured in Scene by Scene: Brian De Palma (1998)

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Soundtracks

Fiesta Mexicana
Written and Performed by Rhodes, Manucci & Skinner
Courtesy of Zomba Records

User Reviews

A feast of visuals, but a famine of suspense.

Director Brian DePalma has always been excellent at letting the visual image speak for itself (like Hitchcock, with whom he is often compared). In "Snake Eyes", the juxtaposed and multi-angled images are captivating for a while, until you realize how unsuspenseful the story quickly becomes. Once all the key players and plot elements are revealed, the film seems to have nowhere to go and resorts to those hokey flashback devices where we see the events play out differently via each character's recollection. Cage and Sinise do the best they can with the material, but they lack real motivation, mirroring the film's lack of direction. This particularly hurts Sinise's characterization which starts out solid, then is set adrift mid-way through the film, and winds up completely contrived by the end. Overall a disappointment, but maybe not a bad rental if you are a Nicholas Cage fan.