Kiss of Death Poster

Kiss of Death (1995)

Action | Thriller 
Rayting:   5.9/10 17K votes
Country: USA
Language: English
Release date: 1 June 1995

A reformed convict goes undercover with the help of an angry detective to ensnare a psychotic mobster.

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cobra31 17 August 2007

I saw the scoring for this film and thought 5.9/10 was just plain wrong and felt the need to give my opinion.

Personally, I'm quite a fan of those film noirs/crime dramas from the 40/50s, mainly because of their tense atmosphere and gritty realism and so with this being a remake of a classic original, this was right up my street.

All I'm going to say about the movie is that the plot is fast paced, exciting, with several twists and keeps you involved right through to the end.

David Caruso got panned by critics for his role in this and I felt that was unjust as I thought his performance and demeanour were just right for the character he was playing.

The rest of the cast is great and with some great performances by Ving Rhames, Nic Cage, Stanley Tucci, and in particular Anthony Heald as the scumbag lawyer.

As a previous reviewer said, perhaps some people were put off this film by the sheer nastiness of some of the characters, but try to put that to one side and enjoy the ride.

I'd probably give this movie a solid 8/10, but because of the overall rating I'm going to give it a 10.

inspectors71 1 February 2007

Fmovies: Kiss of Death boasts an impressive cast, authentic locales, and a gritty, accessible storyline, but it still comes across as an asthmatic remake of the film noir classic. Nobody "stars" in KOD; rather, David Caruso, Helen Hunt, Nicholas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Ving Rhames, and Kathryn Erbe all put in good, workmanlike performances that just don't catch fire.

I enjoyed Kiss of Death ten years ago when I rented it. What made it enjoyable again was seeing people I had forgotten about--a young Hunt, commanding on screen, an obscure Jackson, Cage almost unrecognizable, and Caruso, long before he decided to trade in acting for the ridiculous posturing he does on the boneheaded CSI: Miami.

Yet, the movie never really jells. We know the story well so we expect something better to make KOD stand out. "Workmanlike" just isn't enough.

I'd still recommend it, though. The freshness of the talent might be enough for you. And Cage, ripped and psychotic is so different from his breezy action roles of the last half decade.

You may find a gem here!

ccthemovieman-1 7 April 2006

This is not the 1947 film but a 1995 re-make of the famous gangster flick of the same name. While the classic film had one brutally nasty guy, this one has a whole cast full of them....too nasty, frankly. I watched this once and was fairly interested in it. A couple of years later, took a second look and found it so sleazy and I couldn't finish it.

David Caruso, who obtained a lot more fame in television shows than movies, still was interesting for me to watch as he played Victor Mature's old role. Caruso is one of the better actors I've seen when it comes to expressing his emotions just by his facial looks. It seems fashionable to knock him, but I've always been a fan of his work.

Nicholas Cage plays Richard Widmark's psycho character "Tommy Udo" but is called "Little Junior Brown" in this film. Personally, I liked Widmark's performance and character much more.

A lot of people, especially 20-somethings, like these modern tough films with brutal characters and tons of profanity, but the characters in this movie were so nasty that the film never really caught on with anybody.

It certainly had one thing going for it: a very good cast that also included Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Rapaport, Ving Rhames, Stanley Tuccki, Helen Hunt and Kathryn Erbe.

To summarize: it's not that bad: it just has too hard an edge to it.

dhaufrect-1 19 May 2015

Kiss of Death fmovies. "Kiss of Death" is a great thriller from 1995. It is directed by Barbet Schroeder. And it is written by Eleazar Lipsky with screenplay by Ben Hecht. It is currently available on NetFlix Instant Download Streaming. Ex-con Jimmy Kilmartin agrees to drive a truck of stolen cars as a favor to a friend. Whilst on the job he gets caught but refuses to role over on the others involved. Whilst in prison his wife is killed in a car crash and Jimmy leaves prison, bitter but with a determination to move on. However NYPD officer Calvin wants to use Kilmartin to get close to Little Junior Brown and get evidence to shut him down. This was one of several vehicles that was planned to turn David Caruso from a TV hit to a big screen star - as we know, it didn't work out that way. However the story is pretty solid, it doesn't break new ground and there's nothing outside of the usual crime thriller plot to surprise you but it's really quite good. At times it's a little dull because it is so straight forward but it's mostly entertaining. Caruso, for all his current lack of success, is actually very good. The problem is that he's good by doing the same "NY Irish tough but fair" role that he did in NYPD Blue, King of New York, Bodycount and most films he's done! It's good but I don't think he can do anything else. Jackson has presence as he always does and the support cast is really well filled out with people like Helen Hunt, Stanley Tucci, Rapaport, Philip Baker Hall, Ving Rhames. Nicolas Cage's Little Junior is a mixed bag. At some points he is effective but for the most part he's horribly OTT and hammy. His character is full of ticks and eccentricities that at the end of the day that's all Cage has to do. Overall this is a solid thriller with no surprises. Caruso fans (like me) will like it regardless because it's Caruso doing his usual role. But others may not be so easily made to overlook the weaknesses.

sc8031 7 July 2008

My friend made me watch this and I found it to be a surprisingly entertaining movie. It's a remake of a 1940s film noir, but I haven't seen that one. Here David Caruso plays the typical gangster-gone-straight in order to support his new family, but one of his friends (played by Michael Rappaport) pulls him in for one last deal which (unsurprisingly) screws him over big time.

The casting here is absolutely phenomenal. The performances by all the lead actors are some of their best: Nicholas Cage, Stanley Tucci, David Caruso and Michael Rappaport all bring serious color to the story. It is clear here that the careful casting makes a big difference. I'd like to say one performance in particular stands out (maybe Nicholas Cage, in one of his best roles ever) but everyone pulls their weight. Michael Rappaport, despite staying in his typical character role, manages to play the most loathsome character in the film! Even the villains have more humanity to them than he does...

The story is good too. It's not original, but very well done. Many classic crime twists are provided in ways one doesn't expect and there are some plot points that are only alluded to, not blatantly shown (i.e. the reason certain characters get knocked off, etc.). It also gives us a good rundown on the inside of a corrupt court system which only protects ex-cons if there's a profit to be made.

And to top it off, despite the criminal element and violence, there is a cool sense of humor to several scenes. Little Junior's (Nicholas Cage) mourning scene stands out as a highlight. And then the way the movie ends, you'd think you were watching Beethoven or something. Hee hee, and Stanley Tucci was in that one too!

It's not some critically acclaimed showboating from the '90s, like American Beauty, The Usual Suspects, and so on, but it is a solid little '90s period piece.

6.5

bob-790-196018 30 March 2011

I think the best way to approach this movie is on its own terms rather than as a remake of the 1940s film. In any case, it merely follows the general story outline of the earlier picture. What makes it altogether new is Richard Price's screenplay, Barbet Schroeder's direction, a great lineup of actors, and location shooting in some of New York City's seediest and most squalid areas.

Along with the great locations, what really provides the atmosphere is Price's writing. Once again he shows his down to the ground knowledge of the characters, mannerisms, and lingo of the creeps and hoodlums in the big city underworld, and the law enforcement people who deal with them. And there is also Price's trademark offbeat humor.

While the earlier film gave us Richard Widmark as a really scary psycho, in this later film Richard Price has given us Little Junior Brown, a bulked-up killer with a child's mind and an abiding faith in the nostrums of New Age philosophy.

What a delight when Little Junior, fresh from committing murder, asks our hero to take the next day off so they can get together and "talk about life and stuff"! Or when he urges him to settle on an acronym that will give shape to his identity. (Little Junior's is B-A-D--for "Balls, Attitude, Direction.")

Nicholas Cage is often accused of playing over the top, but in the case of Little Junior, over the top is the way to go.

There are also good performances by Stanley Tucci and Samuel L. Jackson. Tucci excels in portraying charming snakes. When he leers and sneers, it is impossible to keep from watching him.

This movie was really very enjoyable.

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