BLOOD AND WINE
A film review by Walter Frith
Copyright 1997 Walter Frith
'Blood and Wine' has all the makings of classic 'film noir'. It has two legendary leading actors, a fortune, a beautiful woman and complications arising from a robbery gone wrong. Add that against the steamy backdrop of beautiful Miami, photographed at times with obtusely graphic violence, gorgeous sunsets and darkly inventive human conflict and you couldn't ask for anything more.
Jack Nicholson stars as a wine proprietor servicing a large sector of wealthy Miami and its suburbs. His wife (Judy Davis) is a character most ordinary; lacking the strength of will but soon finds what she needs to survive. Her son and Nicholson's stepson (Stephen Dorff) earns his living as a fisherman striving for more in life. Nicholson becomes embroiled in mistrust and suspicion with a crafty and sleazy jewel thief (Michael Caine) after the two of them steal a million dollar necklace from the home of one of Nicholson's clients. They are aided in their crime by the beautiful Jennifer Lopez who plays the nanny of the wealthy couple's child. A heated argument which turns violent one evening between two of the film's character's (I'm not saying which ones) leads to a loss of the valuable necklace and vile determination to reclaim it involving all the film's main characters.
Director Bob Rafelson ('Five Easy Pieces', 'The King of Marvin Gardens', ' The Postman Always Rings Twice', 'Man Trouble'), all of which star Nicholson, has made a stark, gritty and hardboiled film mixing elements of suspense, violence and sex all in good taste with unpredictable results. It's a film embodied with style striving for originality and while it doesn't quite find it at times and doesn't always hit the mark, it still has the characrteristics of emotional drama and the ingredients to sustain a perfect running time of 97 minutes. It's not an ambitious film, just an odyssey of clever film making and it knows its limits. It's not too long and not too short. It's just perfect.
Nicholson and Caine are perfectly casted as two criminal adversaries out to get rich quick and despite the cliche that 'crime doesn't pay', the movie strives to enforce the unwritten rule that there is no honour among thieves. Stephen Dorff is effectively on target as the man caught in the middle and plays his role with poetic ease with moments of heightened tension and this could be a very important breakthrough film for him in his young career. Dorff was most impressive as the little known real life character Stu Sutcliffe who almost made it as a member of The Beatles in 1994's 'Backbeat'. He is one of Hollywood's rising stars. Watch for him. Davis gives a good performance as Nicholson's wife, a woman with integrity and Jennifer Lopez is interesting to watch as the 'other woman'. She will soon be seen in a biography of Mexican singing sensation Selena. It's the story of the rising rock star gunned down by her fan club manager.
'Blood and Wine' is not playing in wide release but if you are lucky enough to be living in a location featuring it, check it out. It's a must see for fans of Jack Nicholson and fans of 'film noir'.
OUT OF 5> * * * 1/2
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