''Kiss Me Deadly'' (aka ''Kiss Me Deadly: A Jacob Keane Assignment'' and ''The Delphi Effect'') is a 2008 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

– thriller film directed by

Ron Oliver Ron Oliver is a Canadian writer, director, producer, and actor who started with the cult hit '' Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II''. He was also a host on Canada's YTV for the shows YTV Hits, The Ron Oliver Show, Oliver's Twist & Rock 'n Talk. He ha ...

. It was written by Frank Cardea and

George Schenck George Schenck is an American screenwriter. His credits include ''Futureworld'', the TV-movie ''The Phantom of Hollywood'' and numerous episodes of '' NCIS''. He also had a production company Schenck/Cardea Productions, which at one time, in th ...

, co-showrunners of ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

''. The movie stars

Robert Gant Robert Gant (born Robert John Gonzalez; July 13, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ben Bruckner on the Showtime series '' Queer as Folk''. Early life and education At age ten, Gant began acting in television commercial ...

Shannen Doherty Shannen Doherty (, born April 12, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jenny Wilder in ''Little House on the Prairie'' (1982–1983); Maggie Malene in ''Girls Just Want to Have Fun'' (1985); Kris Witherspoon in '' Our Hous ...

, Fraser Brown,

John Rhys-Davies John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor best known for portraying Sallah in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and Gimli in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. His other roles include Michael Malone in the 1993 series ''The Untoucha ...

, Nathan Whitaker and Katherine Kennard. It was produced by Here! Films and premiered in May 2008, on demand at here!’s website. It was released on DVD on November 18, 2008.

Plot

The film begins in Germany while the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

is still intact, with Marta and Jacob on a secret spy mission that goes horribly wrong. A few days later, after the fall of the wall, they meet their boss Yale in a West Berlin cafe and are given a debriefing, effectively telling them the cold war is over, and their jobs are done. Now the movie fast forwards through the years with a montage of news stories showing the 911 attacks on the World Trade Center, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and ends up at present day where the story picks up. Jacob has retired and is now working as a fashion photographer, living with his young daughter and boyfriend Paulo, in Milan, Italy. He receives an unexpected call from Marta after seventeen years, asking him to pick her up at the train station in Milan. After arriving at the station, he discovers she has amnesia and is being followed by a pair of unsavory looking thugs. Since Marta is suffering from a memory loss and doesn't know why she is being followed by the thugs, or who they work for, Jacob agrees to help her find out why.

Cast

as Jacob Keane *

as Marta *Fraser Brown as Jared *

as Yale Ericson *Nathan Whitaker as Paolo *Katherine Kennard as Kyra *Alessandra Muir as Julia *

Matthew Sunderland Matthew Sunderland (born c. 1972) is a New Zealand actor, writer, and director. He performed the lead role of David Gray in the feature film Out of the Blue (2006 film), ''Out of the Blue'', based on the events of the Aramoana Massacre. At the New ...

as Vigo *Alastair Lumsden as Raphael *

Elizabeth Hawthorne Elizabeth Hawthorne (born 30 April 1947) is a New Zealand actress who is known for her role as Mrs. Macready in the 2005 film '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' and the Peter Jackson supernatural comedy ''Th ...

as Jilian

Production notes

When the film and cast was originally announced for production, it was supposed to be the first film of what would become a gay spy series for here! According to Robert Gant, "it's up to the here! network, but I think that's what they've been talking about, and the following movies will be even more sexy and exciting". Gant, who is openly gay also said that his character Jacob, who happens to be gay, "represents a role model, of sorts, in the fictitious realm, and having a character like Jacob continues to move us forward; this pushes us to a place we haven't been to before".

Critical reception

A review in the Dutch ''Cinemagazine'' implies that the film is a cheap knockoff of '' The Bourne Identity'', where Jason Bourne is also confronted with his secret spy past. They said the dialogue is "cliched and laughable", and the director tries to disguise the "weak screenplay with gimmicks and editing techniques" that don't make the scenes believable. In conclusion, the magazine states the movie doesn't "possess a cast capable of elevating it into an attractive spy film", and calling their acting "downright dull". The LGBT film site ''CGiii'' was harsh in their review saying Ron Oliver's directing "is not very good" and the camera work is "sloppy and wobbly", while the "script is a mess". A review in ''

NewNowNext Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progr ...

'' also wasn't very kind, saying "the action is uneven, and a few of the scenes are so badly shot and edited that they’re downright hilarious". They said the actor's performances "likewise too are unremarkable...Gant seems invested but just isn't much fun to watch, and the same goes for Doherty". In the end, they said the movie might satisfy some viewers "looking for a way to wile away a Sunday afternoon".

References

External links

* *
Kiss Me Deadly
' at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

*
Kiss Me Deadly
' at

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