By Eric Anderson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 24, 1998

Palmetto more predictable than plausible

Welcome to Palmetto, a sleepy seaside Florida town, where newspaper reporter Harry Barber has just come home after serving two years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

Directed by acclaimed German filmmaker Volker Schlondorff ("Tin Drum," "The Handmaid's Tale") and based on the book "Just Another Sucker," by tough-guy crime-novelist James Hadley Chase, "Palmetto" follows the story of Barber (Woody Harrelson), who is desperately trying to get his life back together, in spite of his apparent and unfortunate knack for finding trouble.

First, Harry's old Palmetto girlfriend, Nina (Gina Gershon), meets him just outside the prison gates and immediately starts stripping off his shirt and kissing him right in the middle of the road, acting as if there hasn't been a two-year hiatus to their relationship. Needless to say, it does not take a lot of convincing on Nina's part to get Harry back.

Then, just as he seems to be getting back on the right track, he is derailed by a beautiful, mysterious woman, Rhea Malroux (Elizabeth Shue), with an irresistible offer.

It's a well-thought out scam with a price tag of $500,000 - all Harry has to do is make a phony phone call and then make a pick-up, and he gets 10 percent - 50 grand.

For Harry's sake, it doesn't help that a big part of the scam involves Rhea's equally alluring and seductive "stepdaughter," Odette, played by Chloe Sevigny, who many will remember from her film debut as Jennie in "Kids."

As dead bodies, false identities and unfinished business from the past suddenly start to swamp Harry, poor Mr. Barber can't seem to make a right move and finds himself falling deeper and deeper into trouble with every turn.

It seems Harry Barber, whose name, for some reason, is said more times in this movie than "hallelujah" at a Jimmy Swaggart sermon, has the unfortunate problem of being way too predictable, allowing people to always be one step ahead of him.

"Palmetto" suffers from this same affliction. The plot takes a lot of twists and turns, maybe even a few too many, but most of them are easily anticipated, and some are left unresolved.

Harrelson does a good job in a typical role as the nutty, half-witted main character (see "White Men Can't Jump," or "Kingpin"). Shue and Gershon are teamed up on-screen for the second time ("Cocktail" was the first) and are as sexy as ever, although their acting in some scenes certainly leaves something to be desired. Sevigny is excellent at conveying the "promiscuous, naughty little girl who's too young" image essential to her character.

However, I must offer a warning to anyone going to see the movie with hopes of seeing some skin flashed; with this group of actresses, it would only be natural for one to assume there will be at least one steamy love scene. I mean, let's be honest, Gershon is most famous for her role in the stripper-laden "Showgirls;" we saw Sevigny's less than moral nature (to say the least) in "Kids," and Elizabeth Shue is, well - Elizabeth Shue. However, the only time clothing is shed in "Palmetto" is between the scenes. Sorry about that, for all you lascivious dogs out there.

That said, while none of the actors/actresses in "Palmetto" turn in anything along the lines of an Oscar-caliber performance, and the movie is predictable more often than not, it is, after all, a movie with three beautiful women and Woody Harrelson. So despite its predictability and holes in the plot, it is still worth seeing. But you might want to wait until it hits the dollar theaters. Don't worry, it'll be there soon.