Written and Directed by James B. Harris
Adapted from the novel Money Men by Gerald Petievich
Starring
Wesley Snipes as Jimmy
Dennis Hopper as Red
Dan Hedaya as Brady
Viggo Mortensen as Ronnie
Lolita Davidovich as Vikki
Valerie Perrine as Mona
Jonathan Banks as Max
Paul Gleason as Transaction Man
Seymour Cassel as Leach
Tobin Bell as Roth
Tony Lo Bianco as Dio
. . .
"You just look for the happiest redhead in the whole world!"
. . .
Review by William D. Tucker.
Boiling Point . . . another movie with the title Boiling Point . . .
This one is about Jimmy, a U.S. Treasury Agent who is trying to figure out who killed his partner during an undercover sting operation over some counterfeit bills. The details of the investigation are engaging moment to moment, but I think the motivations of the characters will probably be what sticks with you when it's all said and done.
Jimmy's under threat of reassignment due to the fact that someone died under his watch. Jimmy's work has ruined his relationship with his wife and child. All this has got him questioning his commitment to his job. Jimmy tries to be an at-a-distance father to his child. His ex-wife has already moved on to another man, and this is a reality Jimmy can't quite accept. The night that his partner is killed, Jimmy hits up his ex for a comfort bang-well, things could be complicated even back before social media, y'know?
Jimmy's partner was killed by a criminal named Ronnie, a callous young man under the influence of a con artist named Red. Red owes a gangster named Dio lots of money, and so Red is under some pressure to elevate his hustle before he gets zapped. Ronnie killed the undercover agent more or less on Red's behalf, although Red himself is averse to violence. That's what's amusing about Red: he's such a nice guy in person. He's clearly a bullshitter and out of step with the world with his off-the-rack suits and fancy wingtips, but you would be charmed by him for a few minutes at a time. You would have to be a brain-damaged psychopath like Ronnie to bet your entire future on Red, tho'.
Red hits up a crooked lawyer named Max, who's known for circulating funny money, but Max knows Red's underwater, and tells him to fuck off-which is why Red has the younger guy Ronnie on the leash. Ronnie hits up Max for a similar deal on Red's behalf with Max being none the wiser.
That's Red's con. He has Ronnie as a kind of spare self to do things with, and it's intriguing to watch how this all operates. If Ronnie were less inclined to shoot people to death with his sawed-off shotgun it would almost be cute.
Jimmy, meanwhile, is able to talk his way out of reassignment, and puts pressure on a couple of other underworld operators to see what shakes out, but his desire is for vengeance, not justice. Jimmy's head is in a bad place. The job has ruined his family and gotten his guy killed, and for what? Jimmy's no longer interested in putting his quarry in a cage. It’s body bag time!
What keeps all this interesting is that Jimmy doesn't know what Red and Ronnie look like, and Red and Ronnie don't know that Jimmy is even after 'em. Red and Ronnie don't even know that they killed an undercover Treasury Agent! They think they just waxed a fellow criminal in a motel room. The film has some fun with Jimmy and Red obliviously patronizing the same late night food counter, pissing in the men's room urinal at the same time, and even hiring the same call girl-tho' that last one is for separate dates. Presumably, a threesome would be out-of-bounds for a middle-aged crook who likes 1940s swing music and an uptight federal agent.
Like many crime movies, the main idea here has to do with the conflict between appearances and reality. Red is a hoot to bullshit with, but he’s a delusional liar with blood on his hands. Ronnie is young and handsome, but also stupid and murderous. Max is an outwardly prosperous lawyer whose wealth comes primarily from dirty deeds done not so cheap. And our hero Jimmy isn't so much interested in serving justice as he is fixated on lethal payback.
This is all fascinating to watch. It ends about how you expect it will end. At least it did for me. This is not an action movie, tho' there are a few sequences of mayhem. This is more in the tradition of hard-boiled crime fiction mixed with a police procedural. We have the line between law and crime, cops and crooks, but as for what's right and wrong . . . that's trickier. Our sympathies are no doubt with Jimmy, but he definitely makes some questionable choices.
The dialogue is sharp. Red's effusive, self-aggrandizing speeches are the highlights.
I also liked the interrogations Jimmy conducts with the criminal operators he has to handle. These end up being negotiations over who and what and where and how much time spent incarcerated and how much time free-I found it more or less convincing.
The cast is solid. Look for future horror villain Jigsaw in a memorable supporting bit. Hopper was born to play a grifter like Red. Snipes is convincingly disillusioned yet determined as Jimmy. Viggo Mortensen is creepy as Ronnie. Dan Hedaya plays Brady-Jimmy's partner-and gets to run from an explosion in one scene. Lolita Davidovich plays the nicest person here-the call girl, Vikki, who is also the least dishonest in her way. Breaking Bad's Jonathan Banks gets to play Max, the lawyer, in good times and bad. And I always appreciate Seymour Cassel. Cassel plays a crook named Leach, and I like to imagine he told stories about working with John Cassavetes between takes.
Boiling Point . . . it's another movie with the title Boiling Point.
I had a good time with it.
