Movie Mahal

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In Bob Rafelson’s uneven neo noir tale, Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of a sleazy, violent thief was part of a peaceful nineties’ renaissance that saw him clocking up him a whole new repertoire of roles that were less about scope and more about endearing himself to new audiences. Blood and Wine is a minor work in Rafelson’s oeuvre but it has undeniable merits. However, Nicholson’s increasingly absurd predicaments veer towards the comical, culminating in an anticlimactic denouement involving a fishing boat manned by Stephen Dorff.

Where the film seems to work best is when a slimy, terminable Michael Caine shows up with his pencil moustache while mouthing off a diatribe of colourful profanities. One can only wonder why Nicholson and Caine weren’t paired up more often on screen as there is a strangely pissy chemistry between them ripe for channelling into an unmade buddy film. The MacGuffin are stolen diamonds that criss-cross with sub plots involving adultery, betrayal and murder, which are all anchored in the atmospheric sweat of the Florida Keys, a familiar but underexploited neo-noir backdrop echoes films like Penn’s Night Moves (1975).

Despite its flaws, Blood and Wine offers a textured, albeit imperfect, contribution to the genre.