Running time: 94 minutes
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise, Carla Gugino, John Heard
Rating 7 out of 10
Atmospheric, visually impressive thriller from Mission: Impossible director Brian De Palma, whose creativity bursts through right from a near seamless opening Steadicam shot - the camera pursuing police detective Rick Santoro (Nicolas Cage) into and around the buzzing hive of the Atlantic City Arena for some 20 minutes. Local boy champ Lincoln Tyler (Stan Shaw) is about to defend his heavyweight title, and Santoro's old mate Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise) - a Naval Commander in charge of security for the US Secretary of Defence - has wangled ringside seats.
But then the champ goes down, shots are fired, and the Secretary is dead. 14,000 spectators panic, but as the exits are sealed, Santoro is left temporarily in charge, and responsible for sifting through those 14,000 to uncover what precisely happened, and who fired the fatal bullet.
Although a regrettable degeneration into bog standard, finale run-in ultimately disappoints, this deceptive suspenser has many qualities, and slowly tightens over a superbly gripping first hour.
Cage is on wild and woolly form, and well supported by the other key players - in particular Shaw's guilt-ridden boxer and the rather impressive Carla Gugino (TV's Spin City) - as events unravel from each individual character's viewpoint.
