Blood and Wine

Jack Nicholson and Michael Caine are so good in this movie. The temptation to chew up the scenery must have been overwhelming, but neither did. Neither grandstanded, and each played their vastly unappealing characters right down to the last detail.

Caine plays an aging and ill thief looking for that last big score on which he can retire. Nicholson plays a middle-class wine distributor locked into an unhappy marriage, failing business, and a young girlfriend to support. They unite to rob one of Nicholson's clients, an act they feel will solve all of their problems. Of course it doesn't and everything that can go wrong, does. And then things begin to turn ugly.

Dark, noirish, this is not a feel-good caper flick. It's definitely not "The Sting". What it is is well acted, directed, and filmed. Highly recommended, I'm just puzzled why it was overlooked at the Academy Awards.

Another twist on the heist gone wrong movie. Alex (Nicholson) and Victor (Caine) plan to rob jewels from a house safe. The robbery goes off fine but Alex's wife leaves him and flees the abusive relationship with her son Jason (Dorff) accidentally taking the jewels. Alex and Victor give chase leading to a double-crossing finale of greed and deception.

This is not what it appears - to compare it to the many "heist gone wrong" movies around now is quite unfair. Rather, this is a character driven piece where the diamonds become the signpost to the characters' true form rather than the reason d'eitre for the whole film. Nicholson plays the main character who seems OK on the surface but is paranoid, greedy, abusive and frustrated underneath. Caine is more sleazy and obviously violent, while Lopez, Dorff and Davis all play supposed innocents sucked into the crime.

However the truth is that the film reveals the greed inside each of them, only Judy Davis as Nicholson's wife comes off as anyway sympathetic, but even she has a drinking problem. Lopez and Dorff display their greed gradually and their characters develop during the film to be as unpleasant as Nicholson. All the main performances are strong and the monstrous sides of their nature are easily believable. Any redemptions are tarnished with lingering greed, greed turns to suspicion turns to deception turns to murder. Human nature is an ugly thing and this element of it is played out at every level here.

As a crime thriller it doesn't work as well as it could have - it is often treated as a plot driver rather than the plot itself. However the characters and performances are all strong and it is this that drives the film. Depending on whether you want a crime thriller or a character piece with big names, you'll either be disappointed or pleasantly surprised.

Jack Nicholson is typically brilliant. Judy Davis is positively compelling. Michael Caine does what he does when given a great script: exceptional work. Stephen Dorff is a great young actor, and Jennifer Lopez is stunningly beautiful, if at times out of her league here.

The script is good, the direction is excellent, and the film, in total, is a solid 8.5 on the 10 scale. Those who complain that the film is too violent shouldn't watch movies about crime. Crime is typically violent. (Despite the way it's depicted in most films.)

See this movie. Ignore the idiots.

Michael Caine gives one of his greatest performances, and that really is saying something. How many times have you seen someone overshadow CJck Nicholson? Well it happens here. Caine's character is at times pathetic, at others funny, and at others deeply nasty, and always believable.

Jennifer Lopez looks astonishing in this but her character is a cypher. The script is so-so, as is the direction, but it is worth watching once for the Caine masterclass.

In Miami, Alex Gates (Jack Nicholson) is a small trader of wines, married with Suzanne (Judy Davies). He does not have a good relationship with his wife and his stepson, Jason (Stephen Dorff). Alex has a Cuban mistress, Gabriela (Jennifer Lopez). One day, he decides to steal a jewel from a rich client, in the house where Gabriela works as a nanny. Alex associates to the tuberculous small-time crook Victor Spansky (Michael Caine). A series of mistakes jeopardize the heist and the selling of the necklace. This amoral and noir movie has a magnificent cast. However, something does not work well, being just an average movie about greed. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Sangue e Vinho" ("Blood and Wine")