Starring Woody Harrelson, Elisabeth Shue and Chloe Sevigny Directed by Volker Schlöndorff Rated R, with considerable sex, profanity, violence Running time 113 minutes Jack gives this film a rating of 7 out of 10

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(Feb. 20, 1998) -- Talk about cheek. The first things out of the mouth of the narrator of "Palmetto" is: "There's nothing worse than a writer who doesn't have anything to say."

And this, from a movie with nothing to say.

The narrator is Harry Barber (Woody Harrelson), a former reporter confined to prison on a bum rap because he tried to expose corruption in his hometown of Palmetto, Fla.

Harry tells the story from the point of view of a man writing a memoir. And, as the film opens, his case has been overturned and he's set free.

Harry returns to Palmetto where he quickly becomes embroiled in a complex plot, engineered by a conniving sex pot named Rhea (Elisabeth Shue).

Harry thinks only with his hormones, especially after Rhea struts in front of him in a form-fitting outfit that virtually shouts: How do you like THESE breasts?

Rhea is married to the much-older town millionaire and entices Harry to "pretend" to kidnap her teen-age step-daughter, so they can extort a half-million dollars from the old man.

And just in case it's not enough for Harry to be seduced by the slutty Rhea, along comes the equally slutty step-daughter, Odette (Chloe Sevigny), to seal the deal.

Call me silly, but I can't imagine any sex being worth the obvious mess Harry dives into. Didn't he ever see Body Heat or Double Indemnity?

More to the point, didn't "Palmetto" director Volker Schlondorff ever see those films? Maybe then, he'd have some ideas about how to be more subtle and artful in his portrait of a femme fatale. I don't know what's more over the top -- the script or Schlondorff's direction of his actresses' sexy behavior.

The normally dependable Elisabeth Shue -- a former Oscar nominee -- stumbles into Pia Zadora territory with this portrayal. Only Mae West has been more flagrantly sexed-up on screen.

The screenplay by E. Max Frye collapses under the weight of its red herrings and overly convenient plot devices.

For example, even though he's fresh out of prison and has few qualifications, Harry is hired by the cops. He's to be the media liaison to handle the feeding frenzy surrounding the very kidnapping case in which he's involved. It's an overly obvious way to put Harry on "the inside," where he'll get key information. Otherwise, it makes no sense.

Harrelson makes a valiant effort to make Harry interesting and witty, though he sometimes seems dumbfounded by what his character is supposed to do. Who can blame him?

The capable Gina Gershorn co-stars as Harry's overly understanding girlfriend and, as she did in Showgirls, she escapes relatively unscathed from the silly carnage that surrounds her.