Flypaper Reviews

A shady developer named Marvin (Robert Loggia) inveigles his henchman Jack (Shane Brolly) to help him straighten out his drug-addicted ward Natalie (Sadie Frost). Meanwhile, Natalie's sometime-lover Bobby Ray (Craig Sheffer) and his associate Leon (Sal Lopez) plan to dilute Marvin's good influence on Natalie, while building their own crime empire. To this end, they bust up a methamphetamine lab and kidnap Dot (Lucy Liu), an immigrant drug-maker. Although Bobby Ray and Leon torment Marvin, he gradually turns the two against each other. In a parallel storyline, Marvin's neighbor Joe (John C. McGinley) is being followed by a detective hired by his jealous girlfriend. Unfortunately for Joe, his proximity to Marvin's pad puts him in the line of Bobby's Ray's wrath. Who would've thought that PULP FICTION would still be inspiring second-rate rip-offs?! Once again, loosely connected vignettes, digressive anecdotes, and eye-popping violence are on display. What's lacking, unfortunately, is the highly idiosyncratic worldview that makes Quentin Tarantino's films so singular. Played with insouciance by a sophisticated cast, each shaggy dog tale is fun on its own, but they don't add up to a substantive whole. It's best to enjoy this grinning neo-noir as a series of acts by modern vaudevillians, who prime their comic retorts with violent asides. And it features one cinematic first: a sex scene involving anti-venom, snakes, and an empty swimming pool.