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Palmetto (film)
Encyclopedia
Palmetto is a 1998 neo-noir
film directed by Volker Schlöndorff
(as Volker Schlondorff) with a screenplay by E. Max Frye
. It is based on the novel Just Another Sucker by James Hadley Chase
.
plays the character of Harry Barber, who is serving time in prison after being framed in a corruption scandal.
Before his arrest, he was a reporter for a local newspaper that uncovered widespread corruption in the local government. After rejecting a bribe that would have ensured his silence Harry soon finds the funds deposited into his bank account and he is promptly arrested. Now, two years later, he is released when an ex-cop's testimony vindicates him. Though he is bitter against the town officials, Harry wanders back to Palmetto with his girlfriend Nina, who has been patiently waiting for him. Unable to find a job, he spends his days lounging in a local bar. In walks Rhea Malroux, the very attractive femme, wife of the richest man in town, who offers him a job: help her and her daughter Odette scam the old man out of $500,000 with a bogus kidnapping scheme, in which Harry would receive a ten per cent cut. Tempted by both Rhea's seductive charms and the prospect of some quick cash, Harry goes along with the plan. But when Odette winds up dead, and all indications point to Harry as the murderer, he finds himself way over his head.
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...
film directed by Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff is a Berlin-based German filmmaker who has worked in Germany, France and the United States...
(as Volker Schlondorff) with a screenplay by E. Max Frye
E. Max Frye
Eric Max Frye, is an American screenwriter from Oregon. His mother was Helen J. Frye, a federal judge. Born in Oregon and raised in Eugene, Frye directed and wrote the film Amos & Andrew. He attended Lewis & Clark College in Portland for one year before moving to Europe where he lived in Paris and...
. It is based on the novel Just Another Sucker by James Hadley Chase
James Hadley Chase
James Hadley Chase is the best-known pseudonym of the British writer Rene Brabazon Raymond who also wrote under the names James L. Docherty, Ambrose Grant, and Raymond Marshall. Chase is one of the best known thriller writers of all time...
.
Plot summary
Woody HarrelsonWoody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
plays the character of Harry Barber, who is serving time in prison after being framed in a corruption scandal.
Before his arrest, he was a reporter for a local newspaper that uncovered widespread corruption in the local government. After rejecting a bribe that would have ensured his silence Harry soon finds the funds deposited into his bank account and he is promptly arrested. Now, two years later, he is released when an ex-cop's testimony vindicates him. Though he is bitter against the town officials, Harry wanders back to Palmetto with his girlfriend Nina, who has been patiently waiting for him. Unable to find a job, he spends his days lounging in a local bar. In walks Rhea Malroux, the very attractive femme, wife of the richest man in town, who offers him a job: help her and her daughter Odette scam the old man out of $500,000 with a bogus kidnapping scheme, in which Harry would receive a ten per cent cut. Tempted by both Rhea's seductive charms and the prospect of some quick cash, Harry goes along with the plan. But when Odette winds up dead, and all indications point to Harry as the murderer, he finds himself way over his head.
Main cast
- Woody HarrelsonWoody HarrelsonWoodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
as Harry Barber - Elisabeth ShueElisabeth ShueElisabeth Judson Shue is an American actress and producer, most famous for her roles in the films The Karate Kid, Adventures in Babysitting, Cocktail, Back to the Future Parts II and III and Leaving Las Vegas, for which she won five acting awards and was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden...
as Mrs. Donnelly/Rhea Malroux - Gina GershonGina GershonGina L. Gershon is an American film, television and stage actress, singer and author, known for her roles in the films Cocktail , Showgirls , Bound , Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back , Face/Off , The Insider , Demonlover , Category 7: The End of the World , P.S...
as Nina - Rolf Hoppe as Felix Malroux
- Michael RapaportMichael RapaportMichael David Rapaport is an American, actor, director and a comedian. He has acted in more than forty films since the early 1990s...
as Donnely - Chloe SevignyChloë SevignyChloë Stevens Sevigny is an American film actress, fashion designer and former model. Sevigny gained reputation for her eclectic fashion sense and developed a broad career in the fashion industry in the mid 1990s, both for modeling and for her work at New York's Sassy magazine, which labeled her...
as Odette - Tom WrightTom Wright (actor)Tom Wright is a television and theatre actor. He was born in Englewood, New Jersey and attended West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania....
as John Renick - Marc MacaulayMarc MacaulayMarc Macaulay is an American actor.He was born and raised in Millinocket, Maine. He graduated with a BFA in theater. He recently appeared in the new USA Network Series Burn Notice for five episodes as Agent Harris, and as "Blaine Bauer" in the horror film Thirteen Floors.Some of his most prominent...
as Miles Meadows - Joe HickeyJoe HickeyJoe Hickey is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League .Hickey was a key forward, recruited to Fitzroy from Shepparton. He made 13 appearances for Fitzroy in 1952, including their preliminary final loss to Collingwood. In 1953 he was Fitzroy's...
as Lawyer - Ralph WilcoxRalph Wilcox (actor)Ralph Wilcox is an African American actor born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin who has appeared in movies and television shows dating back to the 70's. Some of his most memorable roles include "Jammin' Jim" Jenkins on the Emerald Cove segments of The Mickey Mouse Club, Mason Freeman in seaQuest 2032 and...
as Judge - Peter Paul DeLeo as Bartender
- Richard Booker as Billy Holden