BOILING POINT. Warner Brothers, 1993. Wesley Snipes, Dennis Hopper, Lolita Davidovich, Viggo Mortensen, Seymour Cassel, Jonathan Banks, Dan Hedaya. Screenplay: James B. Harris, based on the novel Money Men by Gerald Petievich. Director: James B. Harris. Currently streaming on Starz & Amazon Prime.

   The first thing you should know about Boiling Point is that it was written and directed by veteran Hollywood producer James B. Harris, who is still perhaps best known in some circles for producing Stanley Kubrick’s iconic noir film The Killing (1956). I say that’s the first thing you should know because, in many ways, Boiling Point is a 1950s film noir embellished in bright neon 1990s colors. It’s got a lean screenplay, a coterie of great character actors, a seedy Hollywood setting, and a plot that features a cop and a criminal both involved with the same call girl.

   Based on the book Money Men by Gerald Petievich (whose novel To Live and Die in L.A. was brought to the big screen by William Friedkin), the film stars Wesley Snipes as Jimmy Mercer, a tired and jaded Secret Service Agent obsessed with tracking down the man who killed one of his colleagues. Snipes is an actor that I like very much, but his performance here is neither exceptional nor mediocre. It’s just solid. Nothing more, nothing less. Dan Hedaya, one of the most familiar faces for those immersed in 1990s film and television, portrays Mercer’s partner. He’s good here. As he always is.

   The real star of the movie is Dennis Hopper who really sinks his teeth into the role. He portrays Red Diamond, a perpetual loser and down on his luck criminal always developing his next scheme. Released from prison and in debt to a mafia sort, Diamond teams up with the amoral enforcer Ronnie (Viggo Mortensen) to get into the “paper” (counterfeit dollars) game. There’s a bunch of subplots, all involving various criminal sorts. These include the old timer Virgil Leach (played to the hilt by Seymour Cassell); crooked lawyer Max Waxman (a perfectly cast Jonathan Banks); and a bag man (Paul Gleason) who conducts his dirty deals in a parking lot. Diamond, who has a special fondness for big band music, also begins an affair of sorts call girl Vikki Dunbar (Lolita Davidovich).

   As it turns out, Jimmy Mercer – now estranged from his wife – is in love with Vikki. Unfortunately, the woman that ties these two men together is not a well-developed character. In addition, the film never really explores this ill-fated love triangle aside from showing us that it exists. Part of this, I suppose, is due to the relative short running time (92 minutes).

   I don’t know that there’s too much more than I can say about this film other than that it exudes atmosphere and never condescends to the audience. It’s a solid crime film. One that, with a few changes here and there, could just have easily been a moderately successful 82 minute black and white Columbia Pictures film from the 1950s.