This movie was perverted, overly violent, and horribly acted. I can hardly consider it a B- movie. You couldn't help but hate the two so-called "good guys" about as much as you hated the "bad guys." The entire time Eric Roberts' character was taking part in all the crimes and murders alongside the mobsters, sleeping with countless women, and you even find out that he killed his former partner and it really is not explained why other than "he was in the way." Plus, the storyline is dark, depressing, and grimy and it contains a sex scene worthy of HBO late night. The only good part of the movie was the ending, and I mean the ENDING like when the credits were all done. If you ever see it on TV, turn it off immediately before you want to kill yourself.

Generic soda is hardly any different from the mainstream products. For example, Wegmans' Dr. W is exactly the same as Dr. Pepper, only at a much more decreased price. I'm not stingy, but generecism can be a good thing. This thought can apply to the film industry as well. Look at anything an actor named Bryan Genesse has done. His work is all mostly bland and unoriginal, but his films provide some fun low budget entertainment. He is the perfect example of a Hollywood generecist. Now lets take a look at Eric Roberts. He has a high profile sibling, but this adjective does not apply to his career. God bless him. His sister is winning oscars and he makes little gems like 1996's "The Grave" for example. How his career ever became this way, it's hard to piece together, but his work is worth making an analogy with my soda sermon. This film, "Stiletto Dance" isn't a bad one. Possibly made before "Fast and Furious", a story with a same vital plot turn, the movie does bare a merciful comparison. There are some fine women, fast-paced urban action and surprisingly great acting. There are some delightfully colorful characters, notably one named Binky and the lead villain. It is nowhere near perfect though. This is a movie that floats and lacks any grounding whatsoever, it heavily relies on some plot turns to keep it interesting. This is a problem, because the twist ending doesn't work and it seems written in at the last minute for some cheap thrills. It is manipulative, but that's not saying there some pretty good other twists along the way however.

"Stiletto Dance" is all about Roberts as a deep cover cop who's inclined to go so "deep" even his own partner doesn't trust him. His mission is to stop Russian mob heavies from getting some red mercury which they need to make a nuclear bomb to nuke Americans. The film features the usual sensationalism (babes, shootouts, blood & guts, brawls, etc.) but fails to distinguish itself even in the B-movie category. Ultimately it plays out like a bad Seagal or Van Damme flick. Only for the most macho-minded couch potatoes. (D+)

Though I found the story of this movie to not be so original, it at least was competently told and paced, which automatically makes this effort better than many made-for-video movies. And even though it was low budget, the production values were quite good. The best thing about the movie was the performances, particularly Eric Roberts, who really gets to prove here he is a really good actor, unlike the usual junk he's unfortunately saddled with. Just don't expect a fast-paced rat-tat-tat actioner, and this movie will be satisfying.