Phoenix (1998)

I have never watched a good drama/crime movie. It was on my local television back then in my high school years and I watched it when I was 15. Now I watched it again after 12 years and yes, again: This is the best crime drama movie ever.This kind of friendship turns into a ruin! How can it happen. Oh, you better watch it if you are wondering.And lastly, I was about to cry when I saw that cockroach going to freedom in the end.10/10 Would watch, again.

Having grown up in Phoenix, I was fairly surprised to find that there was a police drama that had been set and partially filmed there. I looked into it a little, and found out that it had a fairly good cast, too - Ray Liotta, Anthony LaPaglia, Jeremy Piven, Tom Noonan, Anjelica Huston, Brittany Murphy, Stephen Baldwin. Baldwin actually turns in a decent performance - not the standard for one of the Baldwin brothers. Liotta is great as a crooked cop, though not nearly as good as he is in "Narc." Piven does quite well as the naïve cuckolded cop. LaPaglia and Noonan's performances are probably the best of the film, though. Noonan turns in an even creepier performance here than he does in "Knockaround Guys", and LaPaglia's corrupt-beyond-all-belief Detective Henshaw is practically the polar opposite of the straightforward good guys he plays in movies like "So I Married An Axe Murderer" and "Empire Records". I paid six bucks to pick this up on DVD at a used record place in Santa Monica, and it was worth every dime. If you can rent it, see it on late night, or whatever, I would recommend doing so.

I never heard of this movie before and caught it by chance late at night on cable TV. I, like everyone else is writing in his comments, was surprised at how well the characters were developed and how exciting the whole movie was. Of course it had some minor flaws, but overall the plot was gripping and the acting was top notch. If you have the chance to grab it on DVD, do not miss this one out. It is way better than the more infamous and similar "Copland" and, besides "Goodfellas", is one of Ray Liotta's best. Don't let the rating fool you, if it had been advertised better, it probably would have an overall rating of 7.5/10.

This is a delightfully scrubby crime movie, with lots of gloomy scenes and sweaty, bloated & crooked cops, plenty of antiheroic action, and a few minor but refreshing plot twists. Ray Liotta serves an exceptional performance (even on his standards) and the whole cast is solid through and through. By no stretch a "feel-good movie", but definitely a very entertaining film. Plus, Phoenix got the most fitting tagline in ages...