How did I not know about this movie? I like Soderbergh’s films, and neo-noir is right up my alley. Yet I never heard of it until Groom mentioned it in his Criss Cross post.
My wife wondered why everything was green. I suggested maybe he was a Hulk. But green is the color of money, and the color of envy, and greed and jealousy play major roles in the story. Notice the slash of red across this guy’s throat. He doesn’t make it.
Here we have a nice romantic scene where our anti-hero is making out with his doom. Something about the scene felt creepy and Alien to me, the way they’re devouring each other.
A big part of noir is the sense of style. Soderbergh and his cinematographer have it in spades.
Yeah, The Underneath is a little known gem, and I personally think it is one of Soderbergh’s best films. The way in which he plays with time, Peter Gallagher has the beard, and really showcases the flashbacks in a brilliant, and disorientating way is well done. He is as much a stylist as Tarantino, but not so over-the-top. I like that about him though I also love Tarantino more and more as I realize no US film directors can make films anymore.
What is also great about the Underneath is it is one of the films in the mid-90s that pushed me back to the old noirs. I appreciated the push back to Criss Cross and I got lucky enough to be in LA at the time and see it in the theaters. That’s what was great about being in LA for 7 years, you get to see so many great films in equally great theaters.