★ 5 / 10
**_The bad side of Tulsa_** A young man
Wuchak
**_The bad side of Tulsa_** A young man (Eric Stoltz) has a wealthy mother (Mary Tyler Moore), but is about to lose his movie-review job at the paper while…
**_The bad side of Tulsa_**
A young man (Eric Stoltz) has a wealthy mother (Mary Tyler Moore), but is about to lose his movie-review job at the paper while owing money to a no-nonsense drug dealer (James Spader) and struggling with feelings for the dealer’s wife (Deborah Kara Unger). The latter’s brother is an old friend, but now a rich psycho (Michael Rooker), as Richter starts a relationship with a drug-addled woman (Joanna Going). On top of all this, Ronnie manipulates him into getting involved in a risky blackmailing scheme.
“Keys to Tulsa” was primarily shot in December, 1994, but not released until 1997. It’s a psychological study of several flawed people within the context of a crime drama that mixes quirky humor with serious situations. Although there are a few thrills, it’s not a thriller, but rather a soap opera meshing Tarantino with Tennessee Williams. The semi-incoherent plot is reminiscent of the contemporaneous “Cop Land,” but it’s not as satisfying as that movie, not to mention “Pulp Fiction,” “Jackie Brown” or “The Fugitive Kind.”
More coherent storytelling would’ve helped, but there are other issues. The flick wallows in the seedy side of life with a curious shortage of light (even “Pulp Fiction” featured a potent message of redemption), which is ironic seeing as how Tulsa is sort of seen as America’s ‘City of God.’ When it does try to convey some noble bit, like the revelation that a certain adulterous woman truly loves her husband, it comes across awkward, disingenuous and eye-rolling.
It has a notable cast, though, and there are entertaining moments here and there. Spader is great as a Dark Elvis type and Deborah Kara Unger never looked better, not to mention Going. The latter has a few nude scenes, I guess to make up for the movie’s shortcomings. But her character is so lost, so drug-addled, you feel sorry for her. Yet it’s not like these kinds of people don’t exist.
At the end of the day, the flick had great potential, but needed a rewrite to work out the kinks and flush out better entertainment. Still, some of it works.
It runs 1 hour, 53 minutes, and was shot in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas (along with nearby McKinney) and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
GRADE: C/C-
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★ 6 / 10
Could of been great..
chaosHD
Had this been produced by a major studio with an experienced director at the helm, this movie would of been so much better. Keys to Tulsa contains both the…
Had this been produced by a major studio with an experienced director at the helm, this movie would of been so much better. Keys to Tulsa contains both the look and music of countless straight to video/cable movies from the same period. Which is a shame because the cast is great and was clearly game for anything. Fans of David Cronenberg's Crash will find it amusing to see James Spader and Deborah Kara Unger reuniting, playing a trailer trash couple instead of a yuppie couple. But just like in Crash, their characters aren't exactly faithful to each other. However it's the beautiful Joanna Going who steals the show, looking like a skinnier and smaller breasted Alyssa Milano as the stripper named Cherry who is constantly under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at all the wrong times. It's surprising to know that she was around 34 when she made this movie, as she looks more like 24. Adding more insult to her great performance, despite her large role her name nor picture is nowhere to be found on the region 1 DVD case from Artisan. Meanwhile, Cameron Diaz who only has a cameo that lasts a few minutes at the beginning of the film has second billing.
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★ 5 / 10
Stagnant, overlong crime drama.
gridoon
"Keys To Tulsa" is not completely uninteresting - that would be impossible with the cast it has (including a made-up-to-look-like-Elvis James Spader and a HOT…
"Keys To Tulsa" is not completely uninteresting - that would be impossible with the cast it has (including a made-up-to-look-like-Elvis James Spader and a HOT Deborah Unger). But the story never seems to build and the movie drags from one purposeless dialogue scene to another; it goes on so long that it begins to resemble a soap opera. Certainly the only two tense scenes are not enough for the "thriller" this was misleadingly promoted as. (**)
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