Toying with L.A. film noir, the director, Stephen Frears, and the scriptwriter, Donald E. Westlake, do twisted, anomalous things.

Frears is as good with the small touches as he is with the big ones -- and that means they're great.

These doomed grifters deserve instant admission into the film noir pantheon.

Donald E. Westlake’s script, from a novel by Jim Thompson, proceeds like clockwork, while Oliver Stapleton’s cinematography is a marvel of grittiness in full color...