Phoenix (1998)

This noir crime drama set in Arizona and updated for post-modern sensibilities is similar in tone to other hip B-movie homages such as Bad Lieutenant (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994) and the previous year's award winning L.A. Confidential (1997). Ray Liotta stars as Phoenix police detective Harry Collins, a good-hearted cop with an understanding bartender (Anjelica Huston) and a gambling problem that's gotten him $32,000 in debt to a bookie, Chicago (Tom Noonan). Although Chicago offers to forgive Harry's debt in exchange for a ... Read More

This noir crime drama set in Arizona and updated for post-modern sensibilities is similar in tone to other hip B-movie homages such as Bad Lieutenant (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994) and the previous year's award winning L.A. Confidential (1997). Ray Liotta stars as Phoenix police detective Harry Collins, a good-hearted cop with an understanding bartender (Anjelica Huston) and a gambling problem that's gotten him $32,000 in debt to a bookie, Chicago (Tom Noonan). Although Chicago offers to forgive Harry's debt in exchange for a murder, and Harry's crooked partner Mike (Anthony LaPaglia) offers to kill Chicago, Harry refuses their generosity, insisting that he will never welsh on a bet or betray a friend. Instead, Harry devises a plan to rip off a sleazy loan shark and strip club owner, Louie (Giancarlo Esposito) with the help of Mike and two fellow corrupt cops, James (Daniel Baldwin) and Fred (Jeremy Piven). Karl Williams, Rovi Read Less