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Released by: First Look Studios
Release on: 3/9/09
Director: Nick Vallelonga
Cast: Tom Berenger, Michael Biehn, Stana Katic, Paul Sloan, William Forsythe, D.B. Sweeney, James Russo, Tom Sizemore
Year: 2008
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The Movie:
Nick Vallelonga's Stiletto won't win any points for originality, but this revenge film does have one thing going for it in the form of Stana Katic, the actress who first garnered some attention for her brief stint as Hana in NBC's Heroes before landing larger parts in films like The Spirit and Quantum Of Solace. Before those two major films, however, Katic landed a substantial role in this low budget action/drama.
Katic plays Raina, the former girlfriend of a mob boss named Virgil (Tom Berenger) who decides, one day, the attack him. He survives and with a chip on his shoulder decides to hire a private detective named Beck (played by writer Paul Sloan) to hunt her down. This might seem like overkill, but Raina is pissed and is more than happy to kill each and every one of Virgil's employees in order to get to him and finish the job that she started. Why is she doing all this? Because she knows that Virgil's got something to do with the kidnapping of her sister, and, to be blunt, she's pretty pissed off about that.
The plot for Stiletto, as mentioned, isn't all that original and it really doesn't do a whole lot to differentiate itself from other crime/revenge films cut from similar cloth. What makes it watchable is Stana Katic's performance. While she isn't in the film as often as the provocative cover art would lead you to believe but when she is in front of the camera, it loves her. She's got strong screen presence in this picture and sex appeal to spare and on top of that, she proves herself to be a pretty decent actress as well.
The rest of the cast fare reasonably well. It's fun to see Tom Berenger and Tom Sizemore in the film and D.B. Sweeney, William Forsythe and Michael Biehn as well and Amanda Brooks steals every scene that she's in. The ensemble cast all handles the material quite well and elevate this one above your average low budget B-movie. Paul Sloan is also pretty good in his role, which is a big deal in that his character really ties everything together and had he been played by an actor who gave a less successful performance, the movie would have failed all together. While he had the added benefit of writing the script and possibly therefore tailoring the part to suit his strengths as an actor, the fact is that he is pretty good here.
The cinematography, however, isn't the picture's strong point. The fight scenes are generally shot with a handheld camera and fairly close in and while that can and has worked for moves in the past (think the Bourne Trilogy here), this time around it isn't quite so successful and it makes the fight scenes confusing to watch. On top of that, much of the film is simply too dark, not in tone or story but in terms of the lighting. It's one thing to make good use of shadows and light and another thing to let your movie wind up looking murky and indistinct, which is what happens here. That said, despite the flaws and despite a marginally predictable ending, the good outweighs the bad with Stiletto, which is ultimately what matters. The movie won't change your life, but it will entertain you for an hour and a half.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The picture is presented in a pretty weak-looking 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. There aren't any problems with compression artifacts except in a couple of darker spots where some minor ones do appear but detail is soft and the image is poorly lit throughout. The movie has been shot with an intentionally grainy look to it that might irk some viewers but otherwise this is a fairly clean and well authored image or what we have to guess is some murky looking source material. Unfortunately the transfer is interlaced.
The English language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track handles the action scenes nicely by spreading out the sound effects and the score across the stage. Rear channel activity is frequent and bass response is pretty strong. Dialogue is always easy enough to follow and understand though there are a couple of spots where the effects bury the performers just a bit. Aside from that, the levels are generally fine and this is a pretty strong effort. Optional subtitles are provided in English and Spanish.
Extras are limited to chapter selection, menus, and trailers for a few other First Look DVD releases.
The Final Word:
Stana Katic makes this one watchable. She's style and plenty of sex appeal and makes for an appropriate heroine in what is a fairly generic, though easily enjoyed, revenge movie.