Original Sin

A 19th-century Cuban planter (Antonio Banderas) takes a mail-order bride from the States (Angelina Jolie) who isn’t what she seems to be; when she absconds with the planter’s bank account he pursues her—maybe to get her back, maybe to kill her. Writer/director Michael Christofer transforms Cornell Woolrich’s novel Waltz into Darkness (filmed before by Francois Truffaut as Mississippi Mermaid) into an adventure in film noir conventions overlaid with sultry subtropical nuances and some steamy bedroom scenes between the two photogenic stars. Christofer, a prize-winning playwright, bobbles the pacing a bit on his first film, relying on his stars and Woolrich’s complex plot to hold our interest. As a detective hired to find the errant wife, Thomas Jane adds a layer of ambiguous spice.