Just about any movie that involves the mob will get a look for me, which will often suck me into such bombs as this one. The problem isn't that it's about the mob, it's that it moves so darn slow. Sure, there's plenty of blood along the way, but ultimately, nothing happens until the final ten minutes or so. That last ten minutes isn't bad - it's the eighty minutes leading up to it that is so painful to get through that makes it simply unbearable to get to that it's just not worth the investment.
Claire (Kyra Sedgwick) is loyal to a fault. Beyond a fault, probably. She's loyal to The Boss (Robbie Coltrane). She's loyal to her partner Nick (ultra-cool Stanley Tucci, probably the only reason to watch the movie). She's even loyal to mob moll Kitty (Robin Tunney), after a fashion.
The problem is that she ultimately can't make a decision on who to be loyal to, and since Nick is dying and he usually tells her what to do, she's in a bit of a pickle.
When one of the other underlings of The Boss decides to make a play for the organization, on the advice of wannabe boss Dr. Wexler (the late John Ritter, in a rare turn as a bad guy), it leaves Claire and Nick on the outside looking in. They are supposed to protect Jimmy, the son of The Boss, but when he turns up dead for trying to make a move on Kitty, things take an even uglier turn - especially when more than a million dollars doesn't show up where it's supposed to be either. It suddenly looks like Claire and Nick have decided to become free agents, which might lead to an untimely demise.
The Boss, being a bit paranoid (as all good bosses probably should), will believe the first person to get to him - and since Claire and Nick aren't in the office, they aren't the first ones to get to him, which means that they are now on the run. Since, as I mentioned, Nick is dying, it means that he is taking this sudden turn of events to be a sort of windfall, so he bows out of the largest part of the movie, leaving Claire to fend for herself, but promising to return when he needs her the most. This he does, an a large shootout ensues, which should satisfy those of you who want to see lots of blood (there is plenty).
You'll also get a nice turn of events at the end, and Claire does finally start making her own way at the end of the movie, but it is just such a difficult trip to get there, I really don't think it's worth all the effort.
Rated R for strong and bloody violence, language and brief sexuality.
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