Amazon.com video review:
This low-budget crime thriller has the feel of a major
blockbuster and owes its roots to the hard-edged crime movies of the
1930s. Christopher Walken stars as a drug kingpin who is released from
prison and vows to use his position and influence--and criminal
enterprise--for charitable means. But a core group of New York cops
are all over him and his gang, determined to go to war, whatever the
cost, to bring him down. Eventually his empire--headquartered at, of
all places, Donald Trump's Plaza Hotel--crumbles under the weight of
double-crossing and a body count of open warfare with the cops. This
is one of the most stylish films of the last decade, with a strong
supporting cast (including Lawrence Fishburne, Wesley Snipes, and
David Caruso) and some truly enthralling set pieces, including a
stunning car chase and gunfight across a rain-soaked Queensboro
Bridge. The film's tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top style offsets its
nihilism; and its riveting visuals will have audiences hooked from
beginning to end. --Robert Lane
