Joe (Michael Biehn) learned grifting from his father Mike Donan (James Coburn). In his final deadly con, Joe is supposed to shoot him with a blank but the bullet turns out to be real. As Joe looks into his mysterious unknown life, Joe discovers his money had been stolen by his twin Lou (James Coburn). Eddie (Nicolas Cage) and Diane (Sarah Trigger) work for Lou.
This tries to be a noirish crime drama. It never gets to feel real. From the bullet onwards, there are obvious questions left hanging. There are jumps in logic. There are easy conveniences. Then there is Nicolas Cage. His is a fake character gone too far. He's insane bothering on a cartoon. The movie stops being a real thing. Everything is in question and Joe is too dumb in not asking them. The con becomes a mess and none of it matters. The whole movie is a mess.
This tries to be a noirish crime drama. It never gets to feel real. From the bullet onwards, there are obvious questions left hanging. There are jumps in logic. There are easy conveniences. Then there is Nicolas Cage. His is a fake character gone too far. He's insane bothering on a cartoon. The movie stops being a real thing. Everything is in question and Joe is too dumb in not asking them. The con becomes a mess and none of it matters. The whole movie is a mess.