Actor Nicholas Cage and director Brian De Palma are energetic, imaginative, volcanic talents whom -- given the right material -- can contribute some quite remarkable products. Nicholas Cage astounded us with his Oscar-winning turn in LEAVING LAS VEGAS, and the hot-and-cold De Palma is a techincal virtuoso, who, in 1981, created the brilliantly hypnotic BLOW OUT (one of my top 10 films of all-time). Here, working with a script concocted by De Palma and David Koepp, we have an actor and director trashing their talents in one of the stupidest scripts ever to be greenlighted by a major studio. The overall premise could have been workable, yet the contextual components, such as believable characterizations and plausible plot points, are dismally bad, leaving the audience with an overacting, hyperactive Cage and some at-times colorfully lucid cinematography (compliments of Stephen H. Burum, De Palma's regular photographer).