Showcasing Nicholas Cage's immense talent for overacting in an annoying way Snake Eyes is the kind of film you can watch peacefully without having your brain taxed too hard. This is a shame really as it's meant to be a suspenseful thriller with twists and turns a-go-go. The conspiracy itself is rather poorly explained with both sides failing to get their point across in an emotive, thought provoking way. Characters flit in and out without leaving any kind of mark on the film or raising any kind of questions and at times it gets a little difficult to follow who is on which side. The ending itself is also rather disappointing with little in the way of justice except for Cage's character. So all in all what seems like a nice little whodunnit (And whytheydunnit) ends up being a bit wet all round. De Palma's direction also seems rather amateurish at times, none less than in the final climactic weather shots (The hurricane that is meant to be banging at the door ends up making no difference at all to how the film ends) and in the 'lucky number' phone call (What was that about and how did he get any kind of clue from it??). At least Cage doesn't do his manic 'Shout every second word for emphasis' routine for the whole movie, just the first 12 minutes.
Review of Snake Eyes
