Kiss of Death (Barbet Schroeder, 1995)

After he names names for a reduced sentence, Jimmy Kilmartin (David Caruso) thinks he is free to start a new life.

But once outside, he finds this deal will cost him more…

I did not own many noir movies growing up.

I found a DVD of the 1947 version of Kiss of Death in a bargain bin in 2012 and it entered the rotation of movies to put on.

I had heard of it because of Richard Widmark’s performance as Tommy Udo.

I enjoy the original Kiss of Death but it is not a favourite.

There is a virtuousness to aspects of the film that puts me off: the portrayal of law enforcement - as embodied by Brian Donlevy - is above reproach; Coleen Grey as VIctor Mature’s innocent babysitter-turned-wife(!) who narrates the movie, is just a bland domestic goddess.

I had heard of the remake but the Caruso of it all put me off.

I did not grow up with NYPD Blue. He was already considered a failed TV-to-movie star.

I put this movie down sight unseen.

After Against All Odds, for some reason, this movie felt like the natural follow-up.

To its credit, this film has good ideas - a more cynical, realistic take on the power dynamics between prisoners and the police.

In contrast to Brian Donlevy’s genial DA, Stanley Tucci is a two-faced schemer.

Nicholas Cage has a unique angle on the film’s big bad. What aids Cage’s take on Little Junior is that the character is different - he is the son of a mob boss, not a gunman like Widmark’s Tommy.

While Widmark felt like he was trying to present himself as a tough guy, Cage’s Junior feels like a child in a man’s body. Overshadowed by his father and asthma, his whole presentation is about projecting machismo, through violence and his own obsession with bodybuilding.

Like Bob Hoskins’ Harold from The Long Good Friday, Little Junior is too innately violent to be any kind of leader. He is a boy king with no one to tell him no.

As for the star, Caruso is solid, but there were points where it seemed like the filmmakers failed to protect him.

Whenever his character has to break down, these moments are mostly offscreen, conveyed through ADR. These moments became so frequent I could not ignore them, and they took me out of the movie.

There is one shot where he yells at Tucci, and immediately dries up - his mouth closes and his eyes recede, like he is waiting for the director to yell cut. 

It feels awkward, like the editor held too long on a take.

Moments like this made me start to war game possible reasons for these choices. 

Maybe the actor could not get big enough, and this was the best version they had? The ADR would have been an addition made in post-production, so possibly this result of test screenings?

These points are not detrimental. Kiss of Death is a solid thriller, and the changes it makes to the original are not detrimental.

It is more successful in trying to make an alternative take on a classic noir than Against All Odds.

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