This attempt from director Dennis Hopper at modern-day film noir is a mixed bag. On the one hand, Hopper captures the patina of such a cynical genre, creating an ironically colorful landscape that's revealed to be as infected with greed, lust, and perversity as the one he played against in Blue Velvet (1986). The sex scenes are suitably steamy, Jennifer Connelly is appropriately gorgeous in her first adult role, and the supporting cast boasts such reliable character actors as Jerry Hardin, William Sadler, Charles Martin Smith, and Barry Corbin. The film runs into trouble with its casting of Don Johnson and Virginia Madsen in the leads, however. The trick in noir is to create an anti-hero who's believably clever enough to pull off a tricky heist, while at the same time desperate and foolish enough to be blind to his own downfall. Johnson has the latter half down but not the former; he's not the most skilled actor at displaying the feral intelligence of, say, Harrison Ford or Tom Hanks. Madsen, for her part, doesn't quite work as the femme fatale sexpot that a true bombshell such as Kim Basinger would've pulled off without difficulty. The plot also grinds to a halt in the second act, featuring one scene after another in a car dealership that begins to feel a bit too familiar and confining. Film noir is one of the most difficult genres to master, and Hopper is to be commended for even attempting it in so intelligent and self-reflexive a manner, but he doesn't totally succeed.