AllMovie

A film that awards top billing to Flea, the diminutive bassist from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, should send off major warning signals -- especially when he's not even the main character. That dubious honor goes to Richard Tyson, the grumbling heavy left over from the late '80s, which is about the correct era for the generically awful rock music that makes this 1999 release feel all the more dated. To enumerate the problems with this turgid crime drama would be unfair, because equally large gaping holes would have to be ignored for space reasons. Just say that Liar's Poker is an incomprehensibly confused and cheap film -- even by the forgiving standards of the straight-to-video market -- full of monotone characters who act like they're under sedation, except when they burst into fits of unmotivated rage. The viewer will give up on the plot ten minutes in, not because it's too complex, but because the script never bothers even to lay the groundwork. Writer/director Jeff Santo's amateurish, pointless cross-cutting takes over from there. Flea's likeable personality has nothing to do in this film, so even his fans should stay away -- as far away as possible.