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Movies / On DVD / Kiss of Death
Kiss of Death

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Kiss of Death (1995)

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66 %
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Reviews Counted:35

Fresh:23

Rotten:12

Average Rating:6.3/10

Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: 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... 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. [More]

Starring: David Caruso, Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Kathryn Erbe

Starring: David Caruso, Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Kathryn Erbe, Helen Hunt, Michael Rapaport, Ving Rhames, Stanley Tucci

Director: Barbet Schroeder

Director: Barbet Schroeder
Composer: Trevor Jones
Screenwriter: Richard Price
Producer: Barbet Schroeder, Susan Hoffman

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jun 1, 2004

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Kiss of Death

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Gutsy dialogue, atmospheric direction, lots of night scenes and an uninhibited take on the source material.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/19/08
Channel 4 Film

Classy film noir, as you would expect from a team including director Barbet Schroeder, writer Richard Price, and Nicolas Cage...

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/19/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The real mystery is why Caruso left NYPD Blue.

comment Comment
01/17/04
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

If you've got three spare hours and a yen for good filmmaking, skip Kiss and rent the real thing, not the pale copy.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
Barbara Shulgasser
Barbara Shulgasser
San Francisco Examiner

An interesting noirlike crime drama propelled by Cage's eccentric performance

comment Comment
04/08/05
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

No review available.

comment Comment
05/28/03
Brandon Judell
Brandon Judell
PopcornQ

Every time Caruso has a scene with Jackson or Cage, he seems to be out of his depth.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

It's worth the price of admission just for a certain hilarious twist in Little Junior's strip joint

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Nicolas Cage is a riot. Caruso, immersing.

comment Comment
09/18/02
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

No review available.

comment Comment
04/22/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

No review available.

comment Comment
06/13/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Cage dominates the camera, stealing scenes by the sheer intensity of his inimitable strangeness.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Hal Hinson
Hal Hinson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The picture is watchable, but nothing about it will linger, except perhaps the feeling that, with a more polished script, it might have been significantly better.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Unjustly overlooked thriller packs a punch

comment Comment
12/21/02
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

It's a sleek, muscular thriller played by a terrific ensemble cast...

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
05/14/03
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

Caruso's acting is vivid, but amazingly quiet and internal, and it's fascinating to watch the kaleidoscopically conflicted emotions battle beneath his controlled surface.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Joe Brown
Joe Brown
Washington Post

Cage, one of the few American actors who gets more interesting from film to film, comes close to kidnaping the picture as Little Junior, a pumped-up but asthmatic thug who, like King Kong, is a gorilla with a wistful air about him.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/13/01
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It ain't anything ground-breaking, but it gets the job done, and well.

Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal | comment Comment
09/10/02
Kevin N. Laforest
Kevin N. Laforest
Montreal Film Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Madeleine Williams
Madeleine Williams
Cinematter
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
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Latest News for Kiss of Death

October 20, 2005: Trailer Bulletin: Freedomland
From director Joe Roth and screenwriter Richard Price comes "Freedomland," an apparently racially-charged kidnapping thriller that stars Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne... More...

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