Original Sin

Original Sin | |
| Director: | Michael Cristofer |
| Cast: | Angelina Jolie, Antonio Banderas, Thomas Jane |
| Genre: | Film, Drama |
The telling final image of Original Sin, a handsome but overripe costume melodrama written and directed by Michael Cristofer, consists of a single gesture made by comely hellcat Angelina Jolie--the sausage-puckered siren seductively drags her extended index finger across her throat during a poker game. Could she mean that 1) her character is signaling her Cuban hubby (Antonio Banderas) that his opponent isn't holding any good cards, 2) she wants the director of this overlong thriller to have some mercy and yell "cut" already, or 3) she's pantomiming a message to her agent who advised her to take a role in this turkey? Jolie plays a grifting, early-20th-century mail-order bride in this exotic, cheese-ball noir. In it she dupes smitten coffee magnate Banderas out of a fortune and provides the impetus for his humiliating downfall. Ain't love grand? Undaunted, the obsessed groom tracks down his runaway missus with the assistance of a shady private detective (Baltimore native Thomas Jane), and proceeds to fall back under her spell. Chaos, and a lot of soft-core nudity, ensues.