Sadly Over-hyped

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Alex Gates (Jack Nicholson) neglects his stepson Jason (Stephen Dorff) and his wife Suzanne (Judy Davis). Alex is a wine dealer heavily in debt. Jason would rather fish with his friend Henry (Harold Perrineau Jr.) than work with his stepfather. Alex is looking to steal a diamond necklace from his customer the Reeses with the help of safecracker partner Victor (Michael Caine) and his mistress Gabriela (Jennifer Lopez) who is the Reeses' maid.This is a great cast with a good performance from Caine. Director Bob Rafelson doesn't inject enough style to match the noir style story. The cinematic style is pedestrian. His better earlier work is not surpassed. The scheme is not the best. Alex and Gabriela would be the obvious prime suspect especially with the security guards. Only Victor seems to be doing any thinking. However if Alex is ever caught, he'd probably give up Victor quickly. The plan seems ill-conceived but I'm willing to accept the desperate robbers' stupidity. The movie is limited but has good enough tension and great actors. For a movie with Lopez, this could have been sexier. It could have been better in many ways.

Here's a pretty good movie with some name stars in it. Jack Nicholson plays a wine dealer who plans to turn around his failing business by stealing diamonds from a rich client. He's also having a fling with their nanny, played by a not yet famous Jennifer Lopez. However, his family takes the diamonds unknowingly, setting up chases and conflicts. The performances are tight, and it's a gritty movie. Nicholson plays a truly detestable character. Michael Caine plays his rather sad partner, who is dying of cancer and trying to get one last score so he can die in comfort. Lopez is actually pretty good, it's before they actually gave her control over her productions.

'Blood and Wine' has a sort of film noire feel to it. It reminds one of the Humphrey Bogart and Alfred Hitchcock classics. Though it's not as stylish a film Rafelson does make good use of the Florida locations. Some of the dialogues are interesting too. The element of suspense is well maintained but what really works for 'Blood and Wine' is the unusual cast. Jack Nicholson is not very different from his other films but it suits Alex Gates. Michael Caine is a knockout as the murderer with a bad cold. He's quite the scene-stealer. Judy Davis is first rate. Stephen Dorff plays holds his own. Jennifer Lopez is stunning. What is most striking is her natural beauty combined with a natural performance. She more than holds her own and brings a certain humanness and courage to an otherwise fragile Gabriella. Overall, Rafelson's is an intriguing little thriller with a fantastic cast.

I'm not sure why I haven't seen Blood and Wine from start to finish up until today, but it has always been intriguing as that one Jack Nicholson movie I would see in bits and pieces on TV, with J-Lo in an early supporting role as the not-quite femme fatale, and Michael Caine as a guy with a very bad cough. Seeing it today I'm reminded of the classic work Bob Rafelson, director, and Nicholson did back in the 70s, even if they already reached their peak on their first film, Five Easy Pieces. But at the least Blood and Wine represents a return to form for Nicholson under the director he worked with most, either as actor or writer (he co-wrote Head), especially in the F.E.P. role of a SOB, which, of course, is usually as easy for Nicholson as raising up his eyebrows. His character, Alex, is a criminal, but not a very good one, as he isn't entirely able to balance out his goals as a jewel thief and as an adulterer with Lopez's Gabriella. It doesn't help that his wife (Judy Davis) has a son from a previous marriage (Stephen Dorff), who has it in for Alex big-time. Meanwhile, that jewel necklace is almost up in the air, and all his craggy partner, Vic (Michael Caine), can do is cough a lot and act more as a dumb muscle than as a consummate professional.So in these ingredients, Rafelson and his writers have a classic, cooked-up noir with enough style by its actors and locale to make up for what would be considered 'too violent' to show back in the forties (probably too sexy too, what with Lopez's 'assets'). Rafelson knows this material needs the best cast, and assembled is the best cast for the job, where desperation, greed, proper morality and just a moment of piece of mind get shifted around but are always the constants that all these characters. Nicholson is, well, Nicholson, cold to the bone but also a great liar, violent, passionate, but won't stop till he gets his way. He's not breaking new ground or setting up himself for the usual awards circuits, but it's still very cool to see him playing Alex as believable work of sleaze, almost in the tradition of Bogart (he actually does just as good, if not better, here than he did in Rafelson's 'Postman' remake). Dorff, meanwhile, could be considered the weakest link with a cast like this, but he holds his own fairly well within his character's basic lines, especially when considering the roles he'd have to take later on. Caine is a natural at playing against "type", which doesn't really exist for him, and disappears into this pragmatic but vicious parolee. And actresses like Davis and Lopez fit into their roles in the "noir" mood with equal levels of ease. I wish I could see Lopez in more roles like this where we might not believe totally her intentions for either of the men in her life, but is not necessarily cruel like the old femme fatales either.Released, as they say, under the radar back in 96, Blood and Wine uses its Miami and Florida locales like they're still lush and lustful and engaging, and the danger here isn't diminished from what's usually expected in the urban cities and dark alleys. Rafelson's got his A-game on here with an enjoyable story where we can guess pretty much where it will lead- the wills of men tested head-to-head- but it's a lot of harsh fun getting there.