Kiss of Death (1995)

Editor's Note KISS OF DEATH opens with ex-convict Jimmy Kilmartin (David Caruso) attempting to distance himself from his shady past. His cousin, Ronny (Michael Rapaport), shows up at his door begging for help with one more heist, and Jimmy agrees to participate against his better judgment. Things go sour when a detective is shot, and Jimmy is left to take the fall. As Jimmy's hopes for a normal life with his wife (Helen Hunt) and daughter fade, he becomes a pawn of the police in their attempts to bring down a psychotic gangster named Little Junior (Nicolas Cage). Caruso and a pumped-up, supremely menacing Cage highlight a spectacular cast that also features Samuel L. Jackson as the cop who becomes Jimmy's solitary ally and Stanley Tucci as a Machiavellian district attorney. Novelist Richard Price supplies the screenplay, and director Barber Schroeder (SINGLE WHITE FEMALE) ensures that KISS OF DEATH, based loosely on the 1947 film of the same name, unfolds with the grooved precision of a well-made watch while bristling at every turn with the volatile life of a vividly imagined criminal underworld.

	David Caruso
	Helen Hunt
	Hope Davis
	Michael Rapaport
	Nicholas Cage
	Philip Baker Hall
	Samuel L. Jackson
	Stanley Tucci
	Ving Rhames
	Barbet Schroeder - Director
	Barbet Schroeder - Producer
	Lee Percy - Editor
	Luciano Tovoli - Cinematographer
	Richard Price - Screenplay
	Susan Hoffman - Producer
	Trevor Jones - Original Music By

In this suspense-filled remake of Henry Hathaway's 1947 noir thriller, a parolee is lured into one last heist to help a friend. When things go awry, a sadistic detective coerces him into reentering the underworld to get the goods on a psychotic mobster. Rolling Stone
"...Cage comes gloriously unglued....Caruso is also ideally cast..." 05/04/1995 p.73-76

Entertainment Weekly
"...[Cage's] most startling pre-VEGAS performance..." -- Rating: B 06/07/1996 pp.66-7

Variety
"...A crackling thriller....[Cage] walks away with the picture, thanks to a stunning performance, unlike anything he's done to date..." 03/27/1995

New York Times
"...Mr. Caruso has a fine natural abrasiveness....In KISS OF DEATH he becomes a movie star with a vengeance, the kind of movie star he was meant to be..." 04/21/1995 p.C1

Los Angeles Times
"...Compelling....One of the most effective neo-noirs....With a fine piece of work in his hands, Schroeder has brought all his skill to bear on KISS OF DEATH, and it has made all the difference..." 04/21/1995 p.F1