Eric Roberts shows some of his native flair in this film. Lost of gruesome violence, but not senseless like in Tarantino movies. There's a wide range of fascinating characters, even some who make but brief appearances. An intelligent and sensitive look at the criminal world, with no rosy lenses nor ridiculous glorification. No miraculous or clever ploys to excuse the protagonist from partaking of the brutality that surrounds him.For a low-rent HBO crime movie, this film was astonishingly good. It's refreshing to see someone breathe life into what could have been a trite cliché. The director Mario Azzopardi exhudes such cinematic genius. It is a shame he hasn't worked on more films.

Poor Buffalo, New York! All the snow they get there and then a movie like this blows into town too. And when I say blows, I mean BA-LOWS! The best parts of this one belong to the stunning Russian babe. Without her soft-core porn scenes to keep your eyes peeled for there'd be no reason to tune in in the first place. Not unless you have a sick affinity for a violently aggregated body count that would make Tarantino blush! The bloodbath finale is so painful to watch that you end up hoping a stray dum-dum passes through your TV screen straight into your brain! I mean, they actually stage the scene in an all white room just so the blood will show up better when splattered on the walls! Well that's the ten line minimum that the IMDb forces upon reviewers. Yep, ten lines just to say "It Stinks!"

I like Eric Roberts and found this DVD on eBay cheap so I figured I would give it a try.This is a violent movie - so, not for everyone. But, it is well-acted enough for my tastes and the story never lost my interest. The villan (Anton) is easy to hate. Eric Roberts character is easy to like but he's rough around the edges.The action is not predictable - at least it wasn't for me, and that makes watching fun.It's no blockbuster epic but it is worth watching. Without Eric Roberts this would not be as good but with him, it's kicked up a notch.

"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+)