Volker Schlöndorff was just 40 when he made that wonderful film `Die Blechtrommel' (The Tin Drum)(qv) and six years later made a more or less nearly acceptable version of Arthur Miller's play `Death of a Salesman' with Dustin Hoffman before getting to this rather lame attempt at a thriller for the US market.
`Palmetto' just does not attain anything near reaching the capabilities of this erstwhile shrewd director; but, the same as Frankie Went to Hollywood, so did Herr Schlöndorff, and that was his undoing at least as far as intellectual and/or artistic cinema is concerned. `Palmetto' is a run-of-the-mill production, loosely directed, though often without direction as it wanders through rain-soaked Florida swamps with rather poor interpretative performances all round, and ends up being rather pathetic.I only watched the film from seeing the director's name heading the credits; otherwise this one would have passed by without my even knowing, which definitely would have been better for all.
You might watch this one for the lovely ladies, definitely not for the awkward Woody Harrelson, and most certainly not if you have seen `Die Blechtrommel' and consider Volker Schönberg as a great European director. Because, fair's fair, in `Palmetto' he is a long way from being such and merely comes up as a very poor second-class `B' rated Hollywood man who got lost somewhere along the road to fame.
`Palmetto' just does not attain anything near reaching the capabilities of this erstwhile shrewd director; but, the same as Frankie Went to Hollywood, so did Herr Schlöndorff, and that was his undoing at least as far as intellectual and/or artistic cinema is concerned. `Palmetto' is a run-of-the-mill production, loosely directed, though often without direction as it wanders through rain-soaked Florida swamps with rather poor interpretative performances all round, and ends up being rather pathetic.I only watched the film from seeing the director's name heading the credits; otherwise this one would have passed by without my even knowing, which definitely would have been better for all.
You might watch this one for the lovely ladies, definitely not for the awkward Woody Harrelson, and most certainly not if you have seen `Die Blechtrommel' and consider Volker Schönberg as a great European director. Because, fair's fair, in `Palmetto' he is a long way from being such and merely comes up as a very poor second-class `B' rated Hollywood man who got lost somewhere along the road to fame.