Judas Kiss (1999)

Coco Chavez (Carla Gugino) lures men and blackmails them in small grifts with boyfriend Junior Armstrong (Simon Baker). They recruit Lizard Browning (Gil Bellows) and wild man Ruben Rubenbauer (Til Schweiger) to kidnap computer tycoon Ben Dyson who has a $4 million insurance policy to pay the ransom. It doesn't go smoothly as Coco kills Senator Rupert Hornbeck (Hal Holbrook)'s wife. Cynical police detective David Friedman (Alan Rickman) is forced to take the case along with an equally cynical FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins (Emma Thompson) as his partner.I can do without all the southern accents. Along with the mannered dialog, it becomes a bit annoying. The actors make a passable attempt at neo-noir. However it doesn't amount to anything compelling. Rickman and Thompson could have been a funny pairing but it's not enough. Sebastian Gutierrez is trying to be Tarantino but he's nowhere good enough especially for his first movie.

It's not easy to find Judas Kiss on VHS (it's not available on DVD), but I wanted to add this rather obscure movie to my Alan Rickman movie collection.I can't understand how the talented Mr. Rickman gets into these mediocre films? Judas Kiss boasts several wonderful actors, an interesting plot and intriguing twists, but its strange visual wanderings and chopping editing ruined what might have been a great crime drama. Many scenes seem to be missing vital information to explain the character's actions: Why was our hero immediately suspicious of his bosses? Why did he mistrust the detective he replaced? There were times when I honestly couldn't tell if the director meant Judas Kiss to be a legitimate crime drama or a campy spoof. Why else would he toss in a topless/alien/lesbian porno scene in the first two minutes (that little surprise certainly made me scramble for the remote since my kids were playing nearby!)? Did he purposely instruct his two distinguished English actors (Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson) to use such awful New Orlean's accents? As an Alan Freak, I confess that I still thought Mr. Rickman was sexy: in a rumpled, weary, "take-him-home-and-tuck-him-in" sort of way.Judas Kiss isn't a great movie, but it does have some intriguing moments, but I don't recommend it unless you're trying to immerse yourself in Alan Rickman.

I admit it;I bought this movie because Alan Rickman is in it, and I'm a huge fan of his. But I was surprised by the whole film. I got a little worried when the first scene I saw was a lesbian porn-movie, but that was soon forgotten. The plot is good, and I was totally into it from the first minute. The camera's been used to give you a kind of stressed feeling, and I think I got a little stressed with the characters. This movie left me staring blankly at the screen first time I watched it, and I wasn't sure what I'd just seen. Now that I've seen it a couple of time, though, I think it's a great film. I couldn't help but notice how much Rickman's character, David Friedman, resembles John Rebus (books by Ian Rankin). The same sarcastic, dry humor. Old battered car. Divorced, one daughter. Likes to do things his own way, and doesn't let a beating stop him. The only thing I slightly disliked about this movie was that you felt like you were thrown into the last episode of a tv show, not knowing what had been going on before. I felt there should have been more both before and after. But in the end, that's the charm of the film. You're thrown into it, and before you know it it's over and you're left wondering what the hell just happened. I recomend this one. Really recomend it!

"Judas..." attempts to be a intriguing noir crime flick by filming in the "Big Easy" with lots of dark shots, sweaty bodies, gritty dialogue, and other elements obviously contrived to appeal to the viscera. The unfortunate result is a mediocre, marginally interesting film with some woeful southern accents, a convoluted plot, lame attempts at artistry, bad casting, and such poor character development that half the audience roots for the bad guys while the other half roots for the good guys. Worth a watch but only after seeing "L.A. Confidential" and the top films of this genre.