Un altro giorno in paradiso

'Kids' director Larry Clark really comes up trumps with this fine story of crime, addiction and surrogate families. Relative unknown Vincent Kartheiser, and the up and coming Natasha Gregson Wagner ('Lost Highway', 'Two Girls and a Guy') are fine as the young wanna be thieves, but the real stars of the show are their mentors' played by James Woods and Melanie Griffith.

Griffith is often ridiculed for her flakiness, but should be applauded for taking riskier, more challenging material such as this and John Waters' 'Cecil B. DeMented'. Woods is a ridiculously underrated actor, and along with the equally underestimated James Caan, is rivaling the much more celebrated De Niro and Pacino as best American actors of their generation in my opinion. Woods is simply sensational as the motor mouth Mel, a complex and unpredictable character. His performance here ranks with 'Videodrome', 'Cop' and 'The Boost' as one of his most memorable.

Forget the spurious 'Kalifornia', 'Drugstore Cowboy' and 'True Romance' comparisons. They are all great movies, but this is no rehash or rip off. It's a fantastic movie in its own right. Don't miss this one!