The Net (1995) (5.9, 51)
Murder by Numbers (2002) (6.2, 50)
Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) (6.3, 48)
Deceived (1991) (6.2)
Enough (2002) (5.8, 25)
Out of Sight (1998) (7.0, 85)
Your "best contender" does have competitive rating scores.
"My own comments 8 years ago follow:
Out of Sight (1998)
Cupid’s arrow strikes an unlikely pair, 25 March 2012
7/10
Rather light-hearted romantic comedy that turns serious.
A bank robber and an FBI agent fall for each other in a mutual but not fatal attraction. She has to do her duty and he has to pursue his "profession", but for awhile they get together. Boy meets girl. Boy gets girl. Boy loses girl. Will boy get girl again? Don Cheadle turns our blood cold as a robber without bounds. Dennis Farina is Jennifer Lopez’s father, and he is amused by her love interest. Just one of those things. George Clooney is the charming bank robber and Ving Rhames his Buddy (that’s his name).
A fun outing for the most part, except when Cheadle enters the scene. Then watch out. Recommended.
Oh yes, Out of Sight is not a neo-noir, no matter how many lists it appears on and no matter that it may be from a noir novel or that it was by Elmore Leonard. The heart of this movie is romantic comedy in an unlikely combination and crime setting. For an example of real neo-noir, see The Hot Spot with Don Johnson and Virginia Madsen."
Today, I'd just say that it's not a top movie among all neo-noir movies.
My review of The Net follows:
"The Net (1995)
Sandra Bullock’s identity is transformed by a conspiratorial computer security outfit, 13 May 2016
6/10
By chance, the two movies I watched last night both bear the imprint of Irwin Winkler. I just reviewed "The Juror" (1996). This one, "The Net" was done a year earlier. Winkler produced both; he directed this one. Winkler is a famous and experienced producer (59 credits). We are talking many excellent films among them, like "Point Blank" (1967), "The Split" (1968), "Rocky" (1976), "The Mechanic" (1972), "Raging Bull" (1980), "The Gambler" (1974), "True Confessions" (1981), "‘Round Midnight" (1986) and many more! Winkler is a great producer.
Winkler has also 7 directing credits. I reviewed his first directing effort, which was "Guilty by Suspicion" (1991). That was on 5 July 2012, almost 4 years ago. Although the movie is decent enough, I thought it came up short in some respects. I concluded "I would have to say that it falls short in the directing and acting departments, and perhaps as well in script deficiencies and faults. What we see on the screen lacks a certain REAL quality." Of "The Net", I have to say the same thing. It’s a reasonable enough thriller, quite enjoyable although overlong and over the top. It’s topical, working off dangers of computerized life. Yet it is lacking visually and in the actors coming through with that extra something. It needed the kind of direction that Winkler’s other film, "The Juror" got in the following year from Brian Gibson.
Both movies have short and direct titles, the kind that Winkler likes. Both have women in distress. Both have them pursued by psychopathic men who can be charming. Here, it’s Jeremy Northam, and he cannot be faulted. In both cases, the protagonists find it very difficult to secure help. Sandra Bullock is friendless and her mother (Diane Baker) can’t even recognize her, being afflicted with Alzheimer’s. But while "The Juror" is taut and features outstanding writing and acting in enough places to raise the entire movie, "The Net" tends to be more clunky and blase, despite the trials that Bullock is going through as Northam tries to recover one little disk from her. The movie makes a number of things out to be more plausible and easier to do on a computer than they actually are, but we can still suspend disbelief.
"The Net" is a neo-noir thriller of more or less average quality. Its distinction is in a plot that makes Bullock the victim of computer manipulations and in the clever conspiracy devised by a computer security company to gain power. The way in which Bullock loses her identity is clever. The movie is a reasonable watch without being exceptional. The IMDb rating of 5.8 reflects a lukewarm approval; it’s about right."
My assessment of Sleeping with the Enemy from years ago follows:
Sleeping with the Enemy (1991)
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Julia Roberts attempts to escape from her overly-possessive husband, 25 February 2013
5/10
"Sleeping with the Enemy" appears on neo-noir lists, which is why I watched it. It’s a modest thriller, however, with close to no noir properties. The closest it comes is the extreme mental condition of Julia Roberts’ husband, played by Patrick Bergin. While approaching psychosis, his is a strong personality disorder. He treats Roberts as his property and attempts to dominate her, suppressing her desire to develop and shutting out her family.
Roberts escapes to Iowa, while relocating her mother to a nursing home. This part of the movie hooks you into the story quite well. In act 2, she meets up with a new man and recovers herself. Naturally, Bergin manages to track her down, leading to the climax, which is somewhat but not entirely predictable.
It plays like a straightforward and linear story with a mild middle portion that emphasizes romance between Roberts and her new love interest, Kevin Anderson. The movie relies heavily on the charisma of the leads and their efforts are worthy and stalwart. They are let down to some extent by a lack of richness in the story and mundane directing, which also cannot uplift the story. The extended romance slows the story down.
I came away feeling it was a decent if rather blah picture. Its inclusion as a neo-noir is questionable."
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