Snake Eyes is a love it or hate it experience mainly thanks to the distinct talents of its star Nicholas Cage and its director Brian De Palma. For Cage, this is one of his definitive performances; wild eyed, crazy, exuberant, flamboyant and brave. The same could almost be said of De Palma who mixes his trademark POV shots, imaginative production design, precision camerawork, fades, split screen techniques and simple yet twisty Hitchcockian mystery plot to powerful effect.
For me this is near perfect with a huge ‘but’. The script is concise, logical, tension-building, character driven (with Cage’s corrupt and morally tortured cop at the centre) and compelling in true David Koepp style, there’s magnificent set pieces including a dizzying 13 minute uncut tracking shot which sets up most of the film’s characters, themes, locations and plot points and a tense hunt through the casino as Cage and baddie Gary Sinise track down Carla Guigino’s vulnerable witness.
The downside to all this are several plot contrivances that undermine the integrity and plausibility of a great yarn. The final twist involving the timely intervention of the hurricane raging outside the sports stadium is, frankly, to large to swallow and undermines the whole affair. Fortunately what has preceded it is pretty damn impressive.
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