Twisted (2004)

Jessica, whose father killed her mother and committed suicide, is a police officer. While investigating a murder, she finds herself in the center of her own investigation, when her former lovers start being murdered.

Director:

Philip Kaufman

Writer:

Sarah Thorp

Stars:

Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson, Andy Garcia

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ashley Judd	...	Jessica Shepard
Samuel L. Jackson	...	John Mills
Andy Garcia	...	Mike Delmarco
David Strathairn	...	Dr. Melvin Frank
Russell Wong	...	Lieutenant Tong
Camryn Manheim	...	Lisa
Mark Pellegrino	...	Jimmy Schmidt
Titus Welliver	...	Dale Becker
D.W. Moffett	...	Ray Porter
Richard T. Jones	...	Wilson Jefferson
Leland Orser	...	Edmund Cutler
James Oliver Bullock	...	John Flanagan
William Hall	...	Chip Marshall
Joe Duer	...	Larry Geber
Jim Hechim	...	Bob Sherman (as James Hechim)

Storyline

Jessica Shepard is an on the rise police officer of San Francisco's esteemed police department, after having solved a big case about a serial killer. Her mentor John Mills is proud of Jessica as a father would be of his daughter, since Mills was the partner of Jessica's late father. With a newly established promotion, Jessica finds that she might once again have to prove herself in a department that takes no prisoners. Not to mention a new partner named Mike Delmarco, who might be Jessica's next closest thing to a confidant. However, a man has been found dead and the two officers are brought into the investigation. What they find is a surprise when the dead in question was a man Jessica slept with, he being part of a list of one night stands that Jessica has engaged in. Now under suspicion and a terrible drinking problem gnawing at her, Jessica will have to prove to her superiors and to her skeptical partner that she's not the one behind the murders and Mills is one of the few people ...

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Plot Keywords:

kicked in the crotch | kicked in the balls | pub | shorthaired woman | woman with short hair | 

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Taglines:

Every murder has a mark.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount UIP [Brazil]

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English Italian Spanish

Release Date:

27 February 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Blackout Murders

Filming Locations:

Crissy Field, Presidio, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,904,299, 29 February 2004, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$25,195,050, 23 May 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures,Intertainment AG,Kopelson Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mark Pellegrino and Titus Welliver co-star in this movie, on the same side of the law. They appeared on Lost (2004), where they played opposing sides in the island's good and evil mythology, as Jacob (The Man in White) and The Man in Black.

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Goofs

Jessica is talking to a psychiatrist when Mills comes to bail her out of jail. At one point as they are walking out, the movement of their bodies does not match the sound of their footsteps.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Edmund Cutler: [knife to her neck] I can hear your heart beating. Sounds like you've got an animal in your chest, trying to get out. Sounds like blood. Sounds like flesh.
[starts unzipping her jacket]
Edmund Cutler: What's this? *What* *is* *this*?
Jessica Shepard: It's my gun.
[suddenly overpowers him and he's on the ground]
Edmund Cutler: Don't hurt me!

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The American/Going the Distance/Machete (2010)

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Soundtracks

One More Nite
by Johnny Nitro
Performed by Johnny Nitro & The Door Slammers
Courtesy of The Saloon Recordings

User Reviews

Great Noir!

I just saw a great film noir called TWISTED. I saw some negative comment on your site saying that the film was not a film noir by someone who is obviously unfamiliar with the meaning of the expression. Here's a great definition that a friend of mine who is a noir expert dug up: "...Film noir is a crime story in which characters in the grip of urgent appetites (sex, money and revenge are the most popular) are driven to perform extremely dangerous, complicated and often morally dubious acts, and in which the prevailing mood--a mixture of fear, desire and desperation--is intensified by both a single-minded economy of narrative and almost oppressive formality of graphic design..." TWISTED stars Ashley Judd as a tough cop who picks up guys in bars and has wild sex with them. The only problem is, the guys she sleeps with end up dead! I guess some of the guys are a little uptight about sex and /or women being cops, but that's their problem. What is different about this film from say, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, is that in TWISTED, Jess (Ashley's character) comes to believe that she might be the killer she is looking for. This is her best role ever and I think there's something liberating about seeing a woman cop kick some ass and be truly feminine at the same time. She is strugggling with her capacity to kill. At the end, the film answers the question of "whodunit' in a truly shocking and unexpected way.

If pressed, I would say that this film is a noir thriller, though it's so much more. There's a great love story here too (actually there are many kinds of love stories in the film and one really twisted one-thus the title). The direction, the camera-work and acting are all great.