An odd choice of title for a strange, offbeat, low-key crime thriller in which neither the heroes nor the villains exactly ooze menace. These are by and large people making the best of a short straw on either side of the law. Their plans for the future are short-term and without much prospect. Wesley Snipes plays a cop who is near quitting after shedding both a partner and a wife; Dennis Hopper is a long-time loser hoping that the acquisition of a cold-blooded hit-man partner (Viggo Mortensen) will give him a last chance of reconciliation with his wife (Valerie Perrine) and comfortable retirement. The paths of these men cross several times - a gents' loo, a coffee-stall, a dance floor - without them realising it. At the end, as a sop to Hollywood happy endings, law and order prevails. Too downbeat to be exciting, the film's fascination lies in its mood, and in the background of the dance hall - tiny lives played out in slow tempo; though there are slower patches, the melancholy of this may stay with you longer than a macho blockbuster shoot-'em-up.

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