Bad Company

Rating:
Summary: Barkin, Fishburne Out for Blood...
Review: ...forget the overused plot line of cross and doublecross in this 1990's noir like thriller. Watch Barkin and Fishburne do some serious sneering and smirking as the plot gets twisted and contorted and convoluted...Beach and the two gov't agents are so sleezy you can see the greed dripping from their pores. Good movie.

Rating:
Summary: Something different
Review: An interesting movie, interesting characters, beautifully filmed.

Rating:
Summary: people were leaving the theater
Review: I think that this was the worst movie I ever suffered through

Rating:
Summary: Nice Erotic Ellen Barkin Scene
Review: If You like Ellen Barkin, and find her sexy, there is one outdoor sex scene that makes watching this travesty all worth while. Plus there's a cootch shot. Beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece? It is.
Review: This film has become the whipping boy and scapegoat of manyso-called critics. This effect -- the "let's join in andconform!" effect -- proves that most of these people really don't want thrillers which break the mold and offer something different than the average escapism. They want the same old thing, done with faster cuts, with more melodrama and less intelligence. This isn't the case here. The plot bears some resemblance to "The Day of the Jackal" in that they are both 'clockwork' thrillers: they show the steps and the pieces of their plots, and then construct the plot from these pieces before your eyes. It gives you a character taking an IQ test, then shows you the assignment, then shows each step of completing the assignment and the twists that develop. In doing this, it reinvents the espionage thriller for our modern times. No longer is the battle about ideology (as it is in most espionage films). No longer do the Americans stand for democracy, the Russians for communism, etc. Ideology is gone, and now -- with the spread of 'freedom and democracy' -- the result is that money and sex (temptation, pretty much) are the only things that matter. Spies work for money, taking missions from Americans against their own government. Spies will backstab and double cross if the sex is good. It's all about the bottom line and how I will benefit. Democracy in action. Working with this idea, Mr. Thomas creates dialogue that is on the level with such classics as "The Big Sleep" (a film that is incomprehensible plot-wise -- something that "Bad Company" isn't -- but loved for many of the same reasons that "Bad Company" was panned). Damien Harris's low-key approach keeps a level of violence and tension just below the surface (which is much more interesting than having it all glaringly obvious and on the surface), while Jack N. Green creates a visual atmosphere to match Mr. Harris' approach. The performances from all involved are top notch and match the low-key style that is taken to the material (thus many people slap the film with having bad performances, because they aren't flashy and over-the-top and nobody is dying or has a mental illness). If you boil down all the bad reviews, you'll see that they are angry that a film deals so nonchaltantly with corruption, greed, extortion and violence and is missing the typical huge explosion and over-the-top action overkill of most modern thrillers ... This film doesn't post moral road signs for you and never insults your intelligence. It is a cool, dry, witty thriller that not only is a top entry into the espionage thriller genre, but reinvents it in its own subtle way. And unfortunetly, it's been trashed so much that Touchstone has taken it out of print. Now that's the biggest insult.

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece? It is.
Review: This film has become the whipping boy and scapegoat of manyso-called critics. This effect -- the "let's join in andconform!" effect -- proves that most of these people really don't want thrillers which break the mold and offer something different than the average escapism. They want the same old thing, done with faster cuts, with more melodrama and less intelligence. This isn't the case here. The plot bears some resemblance to "The Day of the Jackal" in that they are both 'clockwork' thrillers: they show the steps and the pieces of their plots, and then construct the plot from these pieces before your eyes. It gives you a character taking an IQ test, then shows you the assignment, then shows each step of completing the assignment and the twists that develop. In doing this, it reinvents the espionage thriller for our modern times. No longer is the battle about ideology (as it is in most espionage films). No longer do the Americans stand for democracy, the Russians for communism, etc. Ideology is gone, and now -- with the spread of 'freedom and democracy' -- the result is that money and sex (temptation, pretty much) are the only things that matter. Spies work for money, taking missions from Americans against their own government. Spies will backstab and double cross if the sex is good. It's all about the bottom line and how I will benefit. Democracy in action. Working with this idea, Mr. Thomas creates dialogue that is on the level with such classics as "The Big Sleep" (a film that is incomprehensible plot-wise -- something that "Bad Company" isn't -- but loved for many of the same reasons that "Bad Company" was panned). Damien Harris's low-key approach keeps a level of violence and tension just below the surface (which is much more interesting than having it all glaringly obvious and on the surface), while Jack N. Green creates a visual atmosphere to match Mr. Harris' approach. The performances from all involved are top notch and match the low-key style that is taken to the material (thus many people slap the film with having bad performances, because they aren't flashy and over-the-top and nobody is dying or has a mental illness). If you boil down all the bad reviews, you'll see that they are angry that a film deals so nonchaltantly with corruption, greed, extortion and violence and is missing the typical huge explosion and over-the-top action overkill of most modern thrillers ... This film doesn't post moral road signs for you and never insults your intelligence. It is a cool, dry, witty thriller that not only is a top entry into the espionage thriller genre, but reinvents it in its own subtle way. And unfortunetly, it's been trashed so much that Touchstone has taken it out of print. Now that's the biggest insult.

Rating:
Summary: Stylish and self-conscious
Review: This sexy, stylish thriller has a murky plot that plumbs deeper and deeper into corruption and double-dealing, bribery and murder. The plot has many twists and turns, some of which seemed contrived, but the film is interesting and the three principle characters make it work, even though the movie has a self-conscious look and feel to it. Ellen Barkin's Margaret Wells is a black widow, cold and calculating and personifies the film's title. She's tough, dangerous and not to be trusted. The wild card in this film is Julie Ames, the attractive mistress of a California State Supreme Court justice, and she's aware of the judge's gambling problems and his compromised ethics but nevertheless stands behind her man. The grateful, financially secure, globetrotting, wardrobe-conscious Julie disappears only to reappear later in the film with a very different attitude and purpose. None of the characters in the movie are likeable and all have different agendas, and in the end, everybody seems to get what's coming to them.