Phoenix [HD]

Where's RAY LIOTTA's Oscar for this one!
RAY LIOTTA is an incredible and intense actor and this movie showcases his talent better that any movie I've seen. And that's saying a lot. I have to say that RAY is one of the most underated actors to have ever graced the Silver Screen. Everyone should see this amazing movie. RAY was cast as the lead character in this film and rightly so. (He was also co-producer.) His 'Harry Collins' as a cop with a gambling problem lets us see a person losing his self-respect but still living by a code of ethics that won't let him welsh on a bet. Right there you know this guy is setting himself up for big trouble, which finds him, in spades (so to speak). Damn, this man can act!! As we watch him resort to ever desperate measures to get out of the mess he's in, you hope against hope that his bad luck will turn. Not helping matters are his cop buddies who even offer to whack his bookie, Chicago, for him! He declines the offer. He's got a better plan. Why not rob Louie, the loan shark...

Worthwhile Tale of Small Town Corruption
Borrowing heavily from the film noir genre, Danny Cannon adroitly lifts the thematic feel, if not the look, of the best "whodunit" films of the 40's and beyond. Updated with the gritty 90's realism of foul language, "Phoenix" is an exercise in the cruel lesson that morality, or the lack thereof, is measured in small degrees. Our flawed and tragic anti-hero, played by Liotta in what may very well be his best role since his character "Ray" in Jonathan Demme's "Something Wild" (1986), systematically exorcises his "loser" demons and his sole vice, gambling, by obliterating every connection to it in his world by the end of the film. Though ultimately doomed, we find ourselves pathetically rooting for him, because he is a LIKEABLE corrupt cop. Quite an acting an directing accomplishment for all involved. The strong supporting cast includes standout Jeremy Piven, who demonstrates his range by playing the pathetic wimp of the...

Cops or Criminals?
I first saw this either on HBO or Showtime and liked it. I thought it was one of the better cable or straight to video movies. It stars Ray Liotta (in one of his better outings), Anthony LaPaglia, Daniel Baldwin and Jeremy Piven as Phoenix detectives who team up to rob a strip joint after Ray gets in over his head with all of his gambling debts and is in desperate need of some quick cash. Of course, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to know that things go murderously wrong. It was also nice to see Brittany Murphy in one of her earlier performances. And Anjelica Huston was quite good as well. I thought Ray's take on King Kong was hilarious.

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