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 & 2 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 | boxing | conspiracy | assassination | casino | 

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Taglines:

He's got 14,000 eyewitnesses and no one saw a thing.

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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:

Ojos de serpiente

Filming Locations:

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$73,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,310,373, 9 August 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$55,585,389, 20 December 1998

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

Stan Shaw (Lincoln Tyler) also played a boxer in Harlem Nights (1989).

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Goofs

After Richard is beat up by Tyler, Commander Dunne starts telling Richard about what it will be like if he doesn't go along with his plans. He says, "your life will fall the hell apart," when his lips clearly say "your life will fall the fuck apart."

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Quotes

Rick: I'm betting that the redhead you followed is the same person who told Tyler to throw the fight. She's one. Shooter's two. Tyler's three. The drunk who shouted the signal is four and whoever was on the other end of that radio is five. Five people make a conspiracy, right?

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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

References Rumble Fish (1983)

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Soundtracks

Sin City
Written and Performed by Meredith Brooks
Produced by Paul Fox
Meredith Brooks performs courtesy of Capitol Records

User Reviews

Expectations dashed

The movie begins extremely well. The first half an hour or so - Nicholas Cage's profile, the drama leading to the actual shooting, the beginning of the melee in the stadium, is taut and gripping - really superbly done. But then, the whole drama fades into nothingness. I am not a great fan of De Palma (the hell they raise about untouchables -- its just another action movie I thought) .. but this was really the pits.

Some of the extremely lousy things in the movie : we know whodunit before we even begin to suspect anybody, thou's of spectators go from a mad rush after the shooting to enjoying themselves in a matter of minutes, the blonde wig's angle SUCKS, the eye-camera angle was stupid, the Cage-tracking scene was awful (why did they need the tracking device ?!), the final car-skid was childish, the ending was weird at best. All in all, one avoidable movie.