High Heels and Low Lifes

This movie is every bit the mess its title makes it sound. Distributed by Touchstone but unceremoniously dumped into scattered, little-publicized showings nationwide, this English import is one of those movies that puts characters in jeopardy simply by having them act illogically at every juncture. Nurse Minnie Driver and struggling actress Mary McCormack (Private Parts) overhear a communication between two bank robbers and decide that they might as well try to call these unpleasant criminals on the phone and blackmail them. Upon realizing that the criminals are exceedingly dangerous and determined to kill anyone in their way, our distressed damsels opt to push matters further and ask for even more money. Director Mel Smith, a fine comedian in a prior life, has a decidedly spotty track record, from the whimsical satire of The Tall Guy to the rehashed and refried Bean. This film is not one of his finer moments, nor is it one of Michael Gambon's, as the acclaimed English actor portrays a whiny gangster known as the Old Poof. Can't he or Minnie Driver get better work these days?