The cast, clearly enjoying themselves, makes the most of this nasty little modern noir, an unlikely effort from Groundhog Day director Harold Ramis. John
Cusack, once again playing a guy who seems disinterested even in his own lack of interest, stars as a midlevel mob lawyer who rips off his boss on Christmas Eve. Set among the apparently copious strip joints of Wichita, Kan., the movie depends a lot on the easy irony of gentlemen’s clubs adorned in holiday decor, but Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen and especially Oliver Platt (indulging in a movie-long bender) elevate the familiar genre material.
