Stiletto Dance

Much better than I expected from a made-for-cable movie. Eric Roberts apparently can too act! Who knew? The plot is OK, and the direction is unobtrusive. Shawn Doyle plays the Russian baddie with flair. You might think he's taking it a bit over-the-top. But from what I hear, you really cannot caricature these Russki mafiosi as any more violent, evil jerks than they actually are. Canadian actress Lucie Laurier was stunningly beautiful, and totally nailed her part. As a bonus, Laurier and Doyle both did their accents pretty well, not overdoing them too much, but never getting caught out of them. Maybe not Streepian, but good. And the ending, well. There was the perfect opportunity for a standard sort of Hollywood ending, and the filmmakers took a pass on it. That's worth something all by itself. I'd say check it out if you can stand the gruesome violence.