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Rating: 
Summary: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid without the humor.
Review: I have to chuckle when I see a review of this saying its full of twists and turns. In fact, its 100% predictable and can be explained in one sentence..."Paralyzed man imagines fantasy where he is private dectective". Care to guess the "trick" ending?
Anyhow its a low budget movie where everything is just a bit off. The characters dress and talk, more or less for the 1940s. But they drive a 1959 Caddy. And when the detective enters the blond's house, there's a modern motion detector for the burglar alarm, right over his head. Whoops.
But its not terrible. BillyBob is in fine form and the others would probably be fine too if the script was better. The blond is built but you won't mistake her for Lana Turner.
So, if you want to see Film Noir, for heaven's sake, get Out Of The Past. If for some reason you want a modern slant, try Cast A Deadly Spell or Witch Hunt. But if you've already seen these and want to see some actors smoking a lot of cigarettes and trying very hard to be cool, its fairly entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Better than others have indicated
Review: I just finished watching this movie on my computer and was moved enough to get on Amazon and see about buying it.
If you enjoyed Demme's Something Wild, then you might like this film as well as I think Something Wild is great and I enjoyed this film. The film mixes a story set in "present-day reality" with a story set in a noir-dream in a way that cleverly presents the principle that analyzing and interpreting our dreams can guide us in our daily lives. Not a principle I necessarily agree with, but I respect the way that principle is used as a theme in this movie. If you view it in this light the last 5 minutes or so are absolutely unnecessary, but they do serve to provide a pat resolution of all loose ends. I think the soundtrack is quite good also and that also prompted me to head to Amazon. Tom is someone with waay too much time on his hands (495 reviews and counting!) and while some of his reviews appear to be thoughtful I think in this instance he went in expecting a straight noir-film and was disappointed. So be warned, it's not all hard-boiled private dicks and rich, frisky dames, but it's entertaining in its own way.
Rating:
Summary: Better than others have indicated
Review: I just finished watching this movie on my computer and was moved enough to get on Amazon and see about buying it. If you enjoyed Demme's Something Wild, then you might like this film as well as I think Something Wild is great and I enjoyed this film. The film mixes a story set in "present-day reality" with a story set in a noir-day dream in a way that cleverly presents the principle that analyzing and interpreting our dreams can guide us in our daily lives. Not a principle I necessarily agree with, but I respect the way that principle is used as a theme in this movie. If you view it in this light the last 5 minutes or so are absolutely unnecessary, but they do serve to provide a pat resolution of all loose ends. I think the soundtrack is quite good also and that also prompted me to head to Amazon. Tom is someone with waay too much time on his hands (495 reviews and counting!) and while some of his reviews appear to be thoughtful I think in this instance he went in expecting a straight noir-film and was disappointed. So be warned, it's not all hard-boiled private dicks and rich, frisky dames, but it's entertaining in its own way.
Rating: 
Summary: A Noir Cult Classic
Review: If you love noir films with lots of quirky twists then this is the film for you. The leading character, played by Jim Metzler, is paralyzed and bedridden. To escape his boredom and pain he follows a suggestion of his New Age pal(John Ritter) and constructs an alternate reality based on a Philip Marlowe type 50's private eye. This imaginary world is populated by characters from the real, but unsatisfactory, world of the main character. We thus get a dual role for the incomparable Billy Bob Thorton of 'Sling Blade' fame, as the sleazy boyfriend of the hero's sister, and as the crooked cop Monk Mulder. On top of all this you a great noir sound track and a Faye Dunaway lookalike as the mysterious Jade Norfleet. It is great absurd fun.
Rating:
Summary: Tom Reynolds Review
Review: In essence I agree with many of the succinct comments made by Tom. However,I have rated it higher than Tom's one star due to the rather superb soundtrack (which I have not been able to purchase),I also felt that Kay Lenz gave a terrific performance as the grasping,shallow and opportunistic sister.
Rating: 
Summary: Calling Bogie...
Review: The talents of Billy Bob Thornton, Kay Lenz, John Ritter and Andrea Thompson aren't enough to salvage this crass and unimaginative drivel about Richard (Jim Metzler), a man with spinal cancer who discovers he can escape the pain for awhile through the use of "Objectification therapy." By submerging himself into what is essentially a deep daydream, he is able to transport himself into an imaginary, black-and-white film noir world in which he is a Private Eye named Rick Stone. Apparently, director Stefani Ames had a limited shooting schedule on this film; too many scenes play like they were done in a single take with no rehearsal, as if the actors came away from the table after the initial cold reading with the cameras already rolling. Though obviously attempting to evoke the B-movies of the forties, the dialogue is laughably bad, especially in the black-and-white segments. Metzler's character, a cancer victim no less, is inexplicably unsympathetic, and Kay Lenz will not be getting a career boost from her turn as Richard's shrewish sister, "Peep." Billy Bob Thornton and John Ritter will always have "Sling Blade," and at least Andrea Thompson was lucky enough to escape this sort of fare for a spot on TV's "NYPD Blue." The unfortunates rounding out the supporting cast include Victor Love, Norma Maldonado and Paula Marshall. The best thing that can be said about this film is that it makes one appreciate a really good movie. Where's Bogart or Mitchum when you need them?
Rating:
Summary: 3* = average of 4* B&W, 2* color
Review: This 1997 film has many scenes that alternate between color and black-and-white (B&W). The premise of the movie is that a person with the reality (i.e., in color) of spinal cancer can obtain significant relief by a complete delving into a world of fantasy (in B&W), which takes place in a 1957 film-noir setting. As a big fan of the black-and-white film-noir movies of the 1940s and 1950s, I found this film quite appealing. Although it probably was not meant this way, the film is an effective parody of the film-noir genre, complete with its stylized settings and simplistic dialog. The B&W components are well photographed with noir motifs (the classic venation blind effect, for instance), and the color scenes segue effectively and often cleverly into the B&W scenes, such as when hands on the wheel of a wheel chair transition into hands on the steering wheel of a car. Many events (as the tossing of a fortune cookie), lines, and of course characters from the color parts are reused in the B&W parts. In the at times tedious color part concerned with the modern world the unsympathetic cancer victim and his obnoxious sister and her boyfriend, who have some laughable lines, are admittedly quite off-putting. Neither color part nor B&W part stands alone, but the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The jazz score of the movie is very appealing.
Rating:
Summary: 3* = average of 4* B&W, 2* color
Review: This 1997 film has many scenes that alternate between color and black-and-white (B&W). The premise of the movie is that a person with the reality (i.e., in color) of spinal cancer can obtain significant relief by a complete delving into a world of fantasy (in B&W), which takes place in a 1957 film-noir setting. As a big fan of the black-and-white film-noir movies of the 1940s and 1950s, I found this film quite appealing. Although it probably was not meant this way, the film is an effective parody of the film-noir genre, complete with its stylized settings and simplistic dialog. The B&W components are well photographed with noir motifs (the classic venation blind effect, for instance), and the color scenes segue effectively and often cleverly into the B&W scenes, such as when hands on the wheel of a wheel chair transition into hands on the steering wheel of a car. Many events (as the tossing of a fortune cookie), lines, and of course characters from the color parts are reused in the B&W parts. In the at times tedious color part concerned with the modern world the unsympathetic cancer victim and his obnoxious sister and her boyfriend, who have some laughable lines, are admittedly quite off-putting. Neither color part nor B&W part stands alone, but the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The jazz score of the movie is very appealing.
Rating:
Summary: Not too bad, Thompson's a knockout; Lenz holds up well
Review: This movie, featuring scenes in black and white and colo[u]r, is part detective story, part inner struggle, for the man who spends his time in a wheelchair, griping about life. That is, until his friend (played by the late John Ritter) tells him about a means of creating a fantasy life for himself. He does that, which is what leads to the "detective" part of the story. He (Metzler) plays a detective named "Stone", and he's visited by a blonde; played by the stunning looking Andrea Thompson (who reveals quite a bit more than she did on NYPD Blue-WOW! [unfortunately, the scene is in black and white, but she still looks good, in any case]). Kay Lenz, who still has it "going on", and has held up well body wise, if she's not had anything done, as his whiny sister is good. With Billy Bob Thornton and the aforementioned late Mr. Ritter [who all play dual roles] it's not too bad. Not a classic but not bad [especially if you want to see what Ms. Thompson was hiding under those "detective" clothes on NYPD Blue]. Features include the theatrical trailer and credits and a synopsis of the story. [Problem is the "cast" part only mentions the three actors, Thornton, Metzler, and Ritter.] Still a fairly reasonable movie, for the most part. (I got it for cheap, but I won't say where, as it would be competition for Amazon.)
Rating:
Summary: Not too bad, Thompson's a knockout; Lenz holds up well
Review: This movie, featuring scenes in black and white and colo[u]r, is part detective story, part inner struggle, for the man who spends his time in a wheelchair, griping about life. That is, until his friend (played by the late John Ritter) tells him about a means of creating a fantasy life for himself. He does that, which is what leads to the "detective" part of the story. He (Metzler) plays a detective named "Stone", and he's visited by a blonde; played by the stunning looking Andrea Thompson (who reveals quite a bit more than she did on NYPD Blue-WOW! [unfortunately, the scene is in black and white, but she still looks good, in any case]). Kay Lenz, who still has it "going on", and has held up well body wise, if she's not had anything done, as his whiny sister is good. With Billy Bob Thornton and the aforementioned late Mr. Ritter [who all play dual roles] it's not too bad. Not a classic but not bad [especially if you want to see what Ms. Thompson was hiding under those "detective" clothes on NYPD Blue]. Features include the theatrical trailer and credits and a synopsis of the story. [Problem is the "cast" part only mentions the three actors, Thornton, Metzler, and Ritter.] Still a fairly reasonable movie, for the most part. (I got it for cheap, but I won't say where, as it would be competition for Amazon.)
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