Wild, woolly action flick, cheeky but hollow...

Rating: 6/10 (19 May 2006)

Darkly comedic action-based movie about two young marrieds--a clerk at a comic-book store and an ex-prostitute--on the run from police and from drug-lords after killing a coke-peddling pimp and making off with his valuable stash. Written by a pre-"Pulp Fiction" Quentin Tarantino, whose love of cinema and movie-lore is apparent right from the beginning (with an opening credits sequence that seems a direct riff on Terrence Malick's "Badlands"). Tony Scott directed, and though he's more attracted to sleaze than movie in-jokes, he keeps the action strong and hard-hitting. Unfortunately, after a promising start, the characters become stock figures in Scott's morass, a game of bad guys vs. worse guys. As a result, there's no emotion by the end, no exhilaration, just the feeling of having been batted around. Worth a look for "Pulp Fiction" fans and for some eccentric ideas and casting choices (such as Gary Oldman as the half-black pimp or Val Kilmer as the ghost of Elvis!). **1/2 from ****