Hit Me

views updated

Hit Me ★★½ 1996 (R)

Bleak neo-noir based on Jim Thompson's novel “A Swell-Looking Babe.” Sonny (Koteas) is a thirtysomething bellhop at the downscale Stillwell hotel who goes home to a scuzzy apartment and the responsibilities of caring for his retarded brother Leroy (Leggett). His first slip is falling for troubled guest Monique (Marsac)—the femme fatale of the flick. And then Sonny makes an even bigger mistake by agreeing to help his “friend” Del (Ramsay) rob the hotel's safe deposit boxes of cash intended for a big poker game. 125m/C VHS, DVD . Elias Koteas, Laure Marsac, Bruce Ramsay, Jay Leggett, Kevin J. O'Connor, Philip Baker Hall, J.C. Quinn, Haing S. Ngor, William H. Macy; D: Steven Shainberg; W: Denis Johnson; C: Mark J. Gordon.