Keys To Tulsa Details

Don't raise your hopes about the quality of this film when you see the cool cast list — James Spader, Eric Stoltz, James Coburn and Cameron Diaz (very briefly) among them — it's actually an interesting, if not exactly gripping, film noir. Stoltz is the prodigal son returning home to mum Mary Tyler Moore with the intention of straightening his life out. Of course, as soon as he hooks up with his old friends you know that will never happen, and it's not long before he's hip-deep in drugs, sex, blackmail and murder. Regrettably lacking in tension and hindered by rather turgid direction from Leslie Greif, this is ultimately more of a well-played character piece than a taut thriller.

Barnstorming, scenery-chewing performances help stave off apathy for a while, but this thriller runs short of excitement long before its end.