this movie was released during the career high point of nicholas cage's career. how could you not want to see at at that time. it also had gary sinise who was awesome solely for forrest gump. so i jumped at the chance to see this in the theatre. when i saw it then i was left with this impression: the first 20 minutes were amazing. the next 40 minutes were okay and then the last half hour was just awful. in short other than the first 20 minutes i hated it. i was therefore dreading watching it again as i plodded my way through the brian de palma catalogue of films. absolutely dreaded it, but i had to do it, just had to. so the first 20 minutes were just as awesome as i remembered. it is all one long shot (well more than one, but you can't tell) of cage roaming the halls of a stadium before a fight. and man is it impressive, as impressive as anything de palma has done before and one of his best shots ever. it is pure cinematic de palma gold. then for the next 40 minutes the movie is again just as i remembered, okay. generic yet mysterious and held together by an on form cage. there is a great split screen sequence that shows various vantage points of characters and cage as he tries to figure out the truth that again is pure de palma at his most de palmiest and in my opinion you can't have enough of that, but otherwise it is nothing special. then the last half hour occurs. and unlike the first time i didn't find it as bad as the first time. yeah, it's not great and it is by far the weakest part of the movie but it wasn't the outright mess i remember it to be. this all starts at the point where you know who the bad guy is (and i think you aren't supposed to know yet but boy is it obvious at this stage and i am sure you all will agree--that is my spoiler free way of saying that) and it almost falls apart. it gets way to convoluted and stupid but de palma pieces it together fairly well. i am not a fan of this movie based on my theatrical experience but again it is nowhere near the mess i once thought it was. if you look at cage's career this film is a good indication of his career at this point in time. it's got hints of greatness and lots of style but ultimately it never reaches the grand heights or promises the beginnings promised. by all means this is not a great film but there is just enough good in it recommend one viewing. it's a mess but a watchable mess. production design: 8 out of 10 cinematography: 9 out of 10 re-playability: 5 out of 10 originality: 4 out of 10 costumes: 8 out of 10 directing: 6 out of 10 editing: 6 out of 10 acting: 7 out of 10 music: 7 out of 10 script: 5 out of 10 65 /100