Snake Eyes (98 minutes)

I was made for this sewer, baby, and I am the king!

“Oh shit,” you exclaim, “She’s doing another De Palma?” You grab a fistful of popcorn, and with your mouth full you say, “So soon after the other?” 

Yes, friend, yes I am. 

When I started this Substack my goal was always to take you on my movie journey with me. I am not a trained critic, and I didn’t go to film school (I thought I would be a poet full time which is really cute when you think about it). Part of this means I go where my heart takes me. You will often see themes running through these posts intentionally and unintentionally. One movie threads to the next and the next, a never ending list. So, once I realized De Palma made one of my favorite Nicolas Cage movies of all time (stay tuned for a full ranking), I knew I had to go back to relive it. 

It’s been mentioned before, but when I was growing up, my mom had us watching every single action-thriller you could think of. I’ve written about a couple of them on this page including Hard Rain and Volcano. (If you’re new here, please go check those out in the archives. Amazing movies, fairly decent posts.) Going to the local video store on Friday night to pick out the latest installment of “white man in dangerous mix-up” was a family tradition. Snake Eyes (1998, 98 minutes) was no different. Until… it was. 

Snake Eyes (not to be confused with the 2021 GI Joe movie installment of the same name) follows Detective Rick Santoro (Nicolas Cage), an anything-but-by-the-books Atlantic City detective, who attends an important boxing match with his high school buddy and now big time Navy commander, Kevin (Gary Sinise). Santoro does a bunch of coke and shakes down some bad bookies, hoping the night will continue to be fun. Instead he winds up witnessing the assassination of the Defense Secretary and launches an investigation that leads him to question everything he knows about his job, boxing, his friends, and his country. 

The movie opens with an epic 12-minute-long take that starts with a disgruntled reporter standing outside in a growing hurricane while she reports on the big fight. We head inside where we are introduced to Rick who looks dead into the camera and says “I’m on TV?” (I am delighted by this every time.) It’s not exactly breaking the fourth wall, but close enough. From here we follow Rick as he trots around the arena meeting key characters, taking care of a little business, and talking to both his wife and girlfriend on the phone. We get a perfect snapshot of not only Rick and what he’s all about, but an excellent set-up of what is to come. This high energy opener is just as fun to watch as it is a little confusing. It is chaotic and busy and releases a lot of information right out of the gate. But don’t worry, De Palma will take you back to key scenes later as Rick tries to solve the mystery. 

The plot is classic De Palma fodder: a government conspiracy and a highly intricate plan to cover it up. Over the course of the movie we jump from theory to theory, but curiously the actual plan is revealed fairly early in the film. Typically, I don’t enjoy a movie where the audience is well ahead of our protagonist for too long. It can be both boring and anxiety inducing, depending on the viewer, but in the case of Snake Eyes I don’t mind it. This is all thanks to Nicolas Cage who is so compelling as Rick Santoro, I find watching him unravel the details more compelling than if I were to be shocked with a twist ending. It makes sense that I feel this way. The movie’s not necessarily about AirGuard missiles and a government contract, it’s about Rick and his principles. 

Cage’s performance is one of his best. He comes in hot and heavy, all crazy eyes and energy, just like we’ve come to know so well. At the open, he’s fervent and enjoying the shallow life he’s built for himself. He’s a cop that turns the other way for a little cash and uses his badge for his own gain. At one point, Kevin essentially asks him when he’s going to grow up and pursue a bigger life. Rick replies:

“…it's my sewer, Jiminy, and I love it. I kick around about six square blocks. Everybody knows me. I got the whole town wired. Someday, if I manage to get my face on TV a few times, maybe I'll run for mayor or something, but that's as far as I want to go. Because I was made for this sewer, baby, and I am the king!” 

But as the movie progresses and the stakes grow, Rick slows down and starts to remember why he became a detective in the first place. When Julia (Carla Gugino) confirms the worst about AirGuard and his friend Kevin, Rick doesn’t want to believe it. He can’t believe it. He pushes her to take it back, and she even tries, but they both know that they’ve gone too far. Rick knows he has to solve the case regardless of that will do to the people he cares about. This scene between Cage and Gugino on the staircase is the movie’s most powerful. They’re in an enclosed, dressed down space with few props or extras to call on. The blocking is minimal and still we linger on every word. The weight of what Julia tells Rick weighs on him so heavy we can feel it too.

Watching this again made me think about how we just don’t get movies like this in the theaters anymore. By “this” I mean movies that aren’t part of a series or created off existing IP. Is there really not a market for a basic conspiracy/thriller? At least there is always streaming as an option. Comedies seem to have found a home there and perhaps there is room there too for thrillers that are simply there to entertain us. These sort of “fun” movies rarely do well with the critics, but we do know the formula works. Look at The Fast and The Furious franchise. 

De Palma is someone who has never shied away from the commercial. He keeps Snake Eyes fun while still managing to employ his more aesthetic techniques like the 12-minute opening shot, split screens, and a POV shot to retell the evening’s events from another character’s perspective. He is technical without alienating viewers. And speaking of The Fast and The Furious, Nic Cage was recently floating the idea of a sequel to Snake Eyes, but I’m not sure that will happen. De Palma is notoriously anti-sequel (he and I agree on that) because he feels they only exist to make the studios more money. 

But, maybe there is a world where he would make an exception for Rick Santoro. Or maybe as redemption for the original ending that was cut after bad test audience reviews, which, for those who have seen it, is incredible. Rather than the standoff in the end, the arena is simply taken out by the hurricane that has been raging outside. It’s an ending that washes away everyone’s sins… and takes them with them.