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Frogs For Snakes

1999, Movie, R, 115 mins

Frogs For Snakes: Review

FROGS FOR SNAKES
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Thespians and mobsters make strange bedfellows in this odd, shaggy-dog comedy from underground filmmaker Amos Poe. Actress and single mom Eva (Barbara Hershey) slings hash in a New York City diner by day, and, strangely enough, works nights strong-arming for her loan-shark ex-husband Al (Robbie Coltrane). But Al isn't just some cheap wise-guy: He's also an Off Off-Broadway theater impresario with a taste for David Mamet and a repertory made up of stage-struck gangsters and molls. Eva wants out of both rackets, but agrees to help recover $600,000 from Al's wayward son Flav (Justin Theroux), until someone whacks her boyfriend Zip (John Leguizamo). Confusing matters and motives even further is Al's upcoming production of American Buffalo: It seems the murderous dramatis personae will stop at nothing for a part. Poe first emerged during the mid-'70s as part of the short-lived "No Wave" movement — a punky band of New York City filmmakers with a do-it-yourself aesthetic and a guerrilla approach to their craft — and this film has plenty of hipster style: Sharp clothes, vintage cars and a cool, twangy guitar soundtrack. But what really saves it from its own absurd conceit is the truly remarkable assemblage of actors (no doubt the opportunity to rattle off at least one famous monologue per scene sweetened this ultra-low-budget indie's pot considerably). Hershey, Coltrane, Ian Hart, Clarence Williams III, Taylor Meade, Debi Mazar (hilarious as a wacko hit-girl in hoop earrings and a Joey Heatherton shag) and Lisa Marie (cleverly cast as a bad actress) keep it all humming long after the bizarre joke has worn thin. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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