SPOILER ALERT! Aside from COOL HAND Luke, this is the best film Stuart Rosenberg ever directed. Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts are a couple of losers with big dreams (Rourke wants to open his own restaurant) who run afoul of both the mob and the law after committing a robbery in which crooked cop is accidentally killed. Rosenberg handles his actors very well with Rourke giving a particularly exceptional performance. His scenes with not only Roberts, but Daryl Hannah are terrific. Roberts, on the other hand, overacts a lot...taking his wacko role in STAR 80 and acting even creepier. He's not helped at all by the creepy perm he dons. You really can't ask for a better supporting cast: Kenneth MacMillan, Burt Young, and, best of all, Geraldine Page as the quintessential tough-as-nails, Irish/American mother. Her brief scenes are real showstoppers. She justly deserved her Oscar nomination!
