Few screen debuts were as chilling as Richard Widmark's in the 1947 original, his thin-lipped giggle when he pushed a wheelchair-bound old lady down the stairs seeming the very essence of evil. Such on-screen behaviour hardly shocks nowadays, though in this remake Nicolas Cage is agreeably nasty, with a goatee beard and bulging biceps to complement a serious streak of social irresponsibility. The plot has been thoroughly made over, though it's still about an ex-con (David Caruso, formerly of NYPD Blue) who is determined to go straight, but is forced into becoming an informer for nasty cop Samuel L Jackson. A gripping effort, laced with black humour and directed by Barbet Schroeder with a sharp eye for the hell-holes of New York.

Jimmy Kilmartin's an ex-con who's trying to go straight. But he can't say no to a quick driving job because his so-called friend's life is threatened. The job is for Little Junior Brown, a violent and powerful villain. When things go wrong, Jimmy is left to do the time, and his whole life is turned upside-down, but if that wasn't enough, the cops won't leave Jimmy alone when he gets out... They want Little Junior Brown.