Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing, though my attention started to wander...
Review: An interesting, if ultimately underwhelming, tale about a midlevel conman (Matt Dillon, who also directed) whose boss (James Caan) has split for Southeast Asia, leaving him holding the bag when their insurance scam goes belly-up. Dillon tracks his disappeared boss to Cambodia, and sets about trying to collect his severance pay, only to find out that he himself is kind of a babe in the woods when up against the uniquely violent, corrupt society that is post Khymer Rouge Cambodia. I thought the film fell flat (though my viewing partners were utterly entranced) -- the glimpse into Cambodian life was fascinating and felt true, but the parade-of-misfits plotline (equal parts "Casablanca," "Blue Velvet" and "Something Wild") felt overly familiar. The music used was fascinating (including a song from the amazing "CAMBODIAN ROCKS" compilation!) and sonically adventurous viewers are also encouraged to check out the soundtrack. Interesting effort, though, and worth checking out, despite its shortcomings.
Rating: 
Summary: Matt Dillon explores Cambodia's darker corners
Review: An uneasy, yet intriguing, brew of Joseph Conrad, Mario Puzo and Raymond Chandler, "City of Ghosts" is Matt Dillon's entrance into directing, and it fits him well, even if the movie flew far under the radar upon its release. Mossy with atmosphere, the story of three con men in Cambodia is overstuffed at two hours, yet the central theme of American crime vs. third world corruption - the attraction of the two to each other, and their eventual incompatibility - emerges fiercely in Dillon and Barry Gifford's co-written script."City of Ghosts" opens with an insurance scam. A hurricane belts the East Coast, and thousands of policyholders are left stranded by a phony company that sucked up their premiums and then laundered the money. At first it seems Jimmy (Dillon) was a fall guy hired by a shadow CEO: He presents a viable cover story to the FBI, which the feds buy. A day later he's headed to Southeast Asia to locate Marvin (James Caan), the CEO, who's working a new deal to build a casino in Cambodia, recently liberated after the reign of Pol Pot. Marvin's new partner, Casper (Stellan Skarsgard, Hollywood's resident shady fellow) is working his own angle with a few of Marvin's former marks. Although the table is set for a quick-n-dirty foreign thriller of double crosses and exoticism, Dillon spins the material against its natural bent and toward film noir. Upon Jimmy's arrival in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, Dillon is intent on getting us comfortable with the surroundings; some of it works - the brothel scene is oddly alluring - and some of it reeks of prestige padding. Gerard Depardieu has a large role as a crooked motel owner that's colorful but unrelated to the central story. Natascha McElhone is Jimmy's half-hearted love interest, an art scholar of Cambodia's ancient ruins. There is a local bike porter (Kem Sereyvuth), two petty thieves, an Oddjob hitman, three Russians, a monkey, two more art hippies and a retired general from the Pol Pot regime playing both sides of the casino development scheme. Caan, second billing behind Dillon, has a rather small role as the goofily detached Marvin, who seems less a criminal mastermind than a creep out the wild, playing head games. A sudden event midway through "City of Ghosts" accounts for the character's relative absence from the picture, but Dillon never finds the approach to paint Marvin as the Kurtz-like figure he'd so much like him to be; introducing Caan to the picture in long shot, dancing with girls, isn't exactly effective for Marvin's mystery. Yet there is enough to recommend. I like Skarsgard's performance - what suspense there is, he creates by just seeming worried - and Dillon, as usual, fits believably inside his character, in this case the tough-but-not-so-wiseguy. There is an authentic brutality to the picture - kidnappings, innocent victims, offhand violence - that Dillon has visited throughout his career as an actor. The crackerjack plot lacks a little snap, but an ominous languor fills the void. Lush, but mindful of the singe of murder still in the air. Cambodia has earned its rough beauty.
Rating: 
Summary: City of Ghosts is as rich as they get
Review: I am mesmerized by this movie. With DVD I was able to dissect this gorgeous movie, scene for scene, and there are many memorable scenes, believe me. From the beginning I knew I had a movie I was going to enjoy. Check out the perfectly cast Jack Shearer as the FBI guy, the Cambodian rickshaw driver, the general, the wheelchair expatriate, the doorman at the hotel, the Russian mafia, and these are secondary roles, but each had nuances and texture that is rare in films today, in my humble opinion. Matt Dillon, who co-wrote and directed this film, displayed patience and allowed these actors the time they needed to create these scenes. Dillon was perfect in his role as a confused and guilty grifter, who travels to Cambodia to seek out his mentor, James Caan. Caan is absolutely great in his role, and the karaoke scene with him singing in Cambodian is worth the price of admission. Every scene he is in is memorable. Cann's sidekick, Stellan Skarsgård, has you guessing throughout the movie. Secondary to these three you have very interesting performances by Gérard Depardieu as the hotel owner, and Natascha McElhone as the archeologist. The film score is fabulous, the Cambodian city and country scenery is tantalizing, and with DVD the director's commentary allows you to hear Dillon discuss the details of filming in this foreign and beautiful land. This is filmaking at its best, and, probably its hardest. The physical difficulties encountered and overcome to make this movie are reason for applause. I have a friend who rented it on DVD, watched it one time, and returned it. I rented it, watched it over and over again, dissecting every scene, and bought it. This explains the mixed reviews for this film, but take it from me, this movie has it all. This is the first DVD I have ever purchased, and I am sure I will enjoy watching it from time to time when every thing on the tube sucks
Rating:
Summary: Ive lived it
Review: I have been to Phnom Penh many times.The street scenes are very real.The bar in the film is by the railroad station.Other than the tourist area along the river,the whole city is a mess.I have just returned to America from Cambodia,my expat friends there all laughed at many things in the film.(There are no monkeys or snakes in the city)(There are no raves at the temples)(or girls behind glass)I enjoyed the film because its so hard to get any visual info on Cambodia.---See the film and stay home,anymore tourist will ruin it for us that love it,
Rating:
Summary: This is a good fil
Review: I met Matt Dillion in a small French bar at 3 am in Siem Ream back in '98. I guess he was considering doing this film and getting a feel for the country. The movie give a pretty good idea of what Cambodia is like back in the late 90's. If you want action this isn't the movie for you but I enjoyed it enough to watch it several times and to also go and buy a copy.
Rating: 
Summary: First Time Director And It Shows
Review: I really wanted to like this movie, but it just falls flat. I had the opportunity to view this at a pre-screening in New York. Palm, Inc. was sponsoring the event and I was lucky enough to be invited. Given the pre-party and the potential for celebrities to attend (there were none), I was pretty hyped. Loving movies like I do, this was the one of the best of all possible worlds in which to see this movie - it didn't help. "City of Ghosts" is Matt Dillion's first shot at directing and writing a film and it shows. The main character, Jimmy Cremming, is supposed to be this un-trusting scam artist that's been trained in it all his life. That may sound good on paper, but you have to demonstrate it on the screen and Dillion simply refused to show his character as un-sympathetic. If the character has grown up grifiting and scamming then there should be some evidence of it in his demeanor at least and there just isn't. As a result, the main character has no story arc. Although he is supposedly going through a transformation, there is no evidence of it. None of the major characters have any depth or range to them either. James Cann walked through this role, Stellan Skarsgard does nothing but play a drunk and Natascha McElhone was nothing but eye candy. A lot of good talent that was simply wasted. There were two notable exceptions. Two actors were able to brake out of the bad script enough to create a character that you could actually care for. Gerard Depardieu plays a very funny inn keeper/bartender. His role could have been almost forgotten, yet instead Depardieu instilled such humor and compassion in his role that it's one of the more memorable. The other actor was Kem Sereyvuth, who plays Sok, the local rickshaw operator who takes a liking to Jimmy Cremming and vice versa. Sereyvuth may have been type casted a bit in his role, I don't know much about him, but his portrayal is honest and sincere. You get the feeling that they found the actor pulling a rickshaw and gave him a job. I'm sure that's not the case, but it's a testimony to his acting ability. There is one facet of the movie that I greatly enjoyed and that was the portrayal of Cambodia. I have traveled some, but I've never been to Cambodia. Having said that, I got the feeling that I had truly traveled there. The use of music and the almost documentary style of the cinematography in the early portions of the movie transports you into another place. Hats off to Jim Denault for giving the film a distinct visual feel that gives the viewer something to chew on.
Rating:
Summary: Very average movie, beautiful cinematography
Review: I think the worst thing I could say is that this movie reminds me of "Wild Things" and comes up short. Really! There are a couple of scenes and plot devices that seem to be lifted from "Wild Things". Overall average plot, average script (a couple of times I winced at very cliche lines) but the cinematography was beautiful. That was actually one of the things that brought me to this movie. I've been to both Cambodia (and Thailand for that matter) and they captured the sweat, grime and chaos of Phnom Penh but forgot all the lizards and other critters you encounter.
Rating: 
Summary: How did I miss it in the theatres
Review: I thought this movie was excellant. I did not see it at any theatres in Florida but after renting it at Blockbuster I bought two copies, one for my girl friend and one for her daughter. I thought it was that good!
The plot and the action were fantasitc. I found out that this was Matt Dillon's first crack at directing. He did a wonderful job and he clearly falls in to the catagory of "great directors" and not just a pretty face any longer. I loved it!
Rating:
Summary: West meets east.
Review: I would actually give this film 4.5 stars out of 5. I just returned from Bali where I found a copy of this film on DVD. The jacket suggested that it was filmed for the most part in Bangkok and since I lived there for three years I felt it was worth a viewing if only for some scenes of a city I love. Well, Bangkok gets only a brief glance as Dillon's character goes to Phnom Penh in Cambodia, a city I visited in 1996. "City of Ghosts" is an interesting and very plausible story well-acted by the cast, and fleshed out very convincingly with local characters. The cinematography together with the atmospheric soundtrack create the experience of being there. Truly a wonderful experience of a film. West meets east. And Dengue Fever! I'm waiting for the CD to arrive now.
Rating:
Summary: mixed feelings
Review: ive read somewhere that the main character from the movie Kids was casted in this movie, he's not...in fact there are very few characters. it is an independant movie, so it's not high budget or big names, but it's not low budget either. it really does most of its filming in cambodia, the footage of nyc and bangkok are very brief. it "falls short" in some aspects and "shines" in moments. it's not a who, what, when, where, why that peices together at the end, i wouldn't call it a love story, but maybe it is intended to be? it doesn't waiste time(on)going from one place to the next. because he hasnt written anything else i don't have anything to compare it with. as an actor,it's not his best role but isn't his worst. i think he should direct more, some of the script comes alive in an imaginitive way. i went into this knowing basically nothing, so i don't want to give much away. but being that it's said he goes from nyc to bangkok, sort of fleeing...there's not a lot of action, violence, sex, or much else. it's laid back, low-keyed, simple, obscure, and almost wholesome. i kind of liked that. but it's contradictary at times and your sort of left guessing. being he's acted for gus van sant, i think he's picked up some of his attributes. i recommend "kids" "my own private idaho" "physco" and "drugstore cowboy" if you decide you like this movie.
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