Snake Eyes (film)

Infobox_Film
name = Snake Eyes


caption = "Snake Eyes" DVD Cover
director = Brian De Palma
producer = Brian De Palma
writer = Story:
Brian De Palma
David Koepp
Screenplay:
David Koepp
starring = Nicolas Cage
Gary Sinise
Carla Gugino
Joel Fabiani
Luis Guzmán
music = Ryuichi Sakamoto
cinematography = Stephen H. Burum
editing = Bill Pankow
distributor = Paramount Pictures (USA)
Touchstone Pictures (elsewhere)
released = August 7, 1998
runtime = 98 minutes
language = English
budget = $73 million USD
imdb_id = 0120832

"Snake Eyes" is a crime thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, one featuring his trademark use of long tracking shots and split screens. Released in 1998, the film was written by David Koepp and De Palma, and rated R when released to theaters on August 7 of 1998. It cost an estimated $73 million to produce, returned $103 million worldwide and received a mixed response from critics.

Plot

A boisterous and corrupt Atlantic City police detective, Rick Santoro (Nicolas Cage) attends a heavyweight championship boxing match. Also there is his good friend, U.S. Navy Commander Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise), who is part of a group at ringside that includes his boss Charles Kirkland, the government's Secretary of Defense.

With the fight in progress, a woman named Julia Costello (Carla Gugino) sits beside Santoro to speak, furtively, to the Secretary of Defense. Suddenly there are gunshots, wounding her and mortally injuring Kirkland. There is chaos in the arena as the fight is stopped and fans stampede toward the exits.

During his investigation, Santoro realizes gradually that the assassination was planned by a conspiracy which includes his friend Kevin. Kirkland, a politician, was killed because he intended to cancel a missile project of which Kevin approved strongly and which was contracted to a corporate executive who was also part of the conspiracy.The plan included the death of Julia Costello, who had been trying to warn Kirkland that some of the project test results had been falsified. Santoro has been bullying people and accepting payoffs for years, and is offered a million-dollar payoff from the conspirators to conceal the evidence and tell them the location of Julia so she can be killed, but Santoro chooses instead to risk his life to rescue Julia and publicize the conspiracy.He does this, and the publicity resulting causes scrutiny of his behaviorwhich results in his being charged with crimes. At the end of the story Julia finds him on Atlantic City's boardwalk: he has been convicted andwill have to serve some prison time, but she asks him to meet her after he is released.

Featured cast

* Nicolas Cage as Detective Rick Santoro
* Gary Sinise as Commander Kevin Dunne
* John Heard as casino owner Gilbert Powell
* Carla Gugino as whistle-blower Julia Costello
* Stan Shaw as boxing champ Lincoln Tyler
* Kevin Dunn as pay-per-view reporter Lou Logan
* Michael Rispoli as bookie Jimmy George
* Joel Fabiani as Secretary of Defense Charles Kirkland
* Luis Guzmán as small time hood Cyrus
* David Anthony Higgins as hotel guest Ned Campbell
* Mike Starr as hotel security Walt McGahn
* Tamara Tunie as television reporter Anthea
* Chip Zien as Mickey Alter

Trivia

*Will Smith was originally approached for this film but couldn't agree with the studio on salary.Fact|date=December 2007
*The ringside drunk says 'here comes the pain', a line used in another Brian De Palma film (Carlito's Way).
*The real mayor of Atlantic City James Whelan plays the mayor who presents the award at the end of the film.
*The arena sequences were filmed in the Montreal Forum, former home of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens, as the building was about to be gutted. [http://cameraguild.com/interviews/chat_burum/Burum_SnakeEyes.htm]
*The movie features actor Kevin Dunn while Gary Sinise's character is named Kevin Dunne in the film.
*The movie is notable as the first twelve minutes were filmed in what seems to be one continuous shot from the opening sequence featuring the reporter to the assassination. The shot actually has 8 cuts.Fact|date=December 2007
*A huge special effects sequence was created by Industrial Light and Magic but cut from the final edit of the film. This sequence involved a huge tidal wave crashing through the casino. Deemed too expensive, the sequence was entirely removed during post production. Several references to it remain in the final edit of the film, most notably the fallen globe and Rick's line "I keep thinking about that tunnel, and what would have happened if I'd drowned." ILM is still credited in the end credits.

External links

*imdb title|id= 0120832|title=Snake Eyes