I love this movie so much

Too many fans seem to be blown away

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

"We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell." – Oscar Wilde One of the better "forgotten films" of the 1990s, "Flesh and Bone" was written and directed by Steve Kloves. Due to the film's box-office failure, Kloves abandoned film directing as a career.The plot? Dennis Quaid plays Arlis, a vending machine repairman who strikes up a relationship with Kay (Meg Ryan), a perky but wounded girl. Kay falls in love with Arlis, but because his murderous father slaughtered her family many years ago, Arlis terminates their relationship. He believes himself to be carrying the very same "evil" that flows through his father's veins. Better to remain alone, Arlis thinks. Stick to fixing vending machines, lay low, and don't give evil a chance to work through you. That's his code.Unfortunately Daddy, played by James Caan, comes to town, forcing Arlis to make a choice: embrace evil to vanquish evil, or step aside and let evil prevail.Arlis' pacifism, his repression, his fear of becoming his violent father, is typical of the genre (think Will Munny in "Unforgiven" or Michael Shannon in "Shotgun Stories"). What Kloves does, though, is mirror Arlis' anxieties about his own violent potential to the free-spirited personality of Kay, a woman who slowly draws Arlis out of his shell. Symbolically, she wills Arlis' father out of the past, forcing the son to confront a history which he's spent his life repressing.If the film's demarcations (good, evil, light, dark, father, son) seem simplistic, it's because the film is tapping into a rich culture of Texan noirs, Southern Gothic literature and Westerns, all of which tend to rely on fairly simple archetypes. But this is the film's strength. It's a gloomy fairy tale, with actor James Caan as the manipulative, terrifying, big bad wolf, and Randy and Meg as two hapless kids lost in the enchanted forest.Kloves starts his tale quietly – literally a silent home invasion – and then slowly builds the tension. His shots are straight out of the noir and Wild West textbook, actors striking John Wayne poses, often framed by doorways or dwarfed by empty, Texan vistas. The film's prose is itself wonderfully moody, Kloves' actors perpetually scowling, brooding or delivering menacing dialogue. Aesthetically, the picture recalls the unnerving highways, flatlands and motels of Terrance Malick, Wim Wenders or Cormac McCarthy. Here, the "sins of fathers" always threaten to infect subsequent generations, such that the present is always unsettling, and the future always ripe for derailment.8/10 – See "Shotgun Stories".

A compelling movie with earthy characters and slow seemingly unintentional situations. And sometimes as drab as a West Texas sandstorm. Dennis Quaid is excellent as the laid back Arlis Sweeney, a vending machine distributor, who lives with the memories of a multiple murder committed by his father Roy(James Caan)decades ago. On his West Texas vending circuit, Arlis meets up with a young waitress with marital problems. Kay(Meg Ryan)is brooding, but easily as wild as a "March hare". This is back in the day when Ryan could curdle blood with a girlish pout. There is reluctant chemistry between Kay and Arlis...but unbridled passion. The story gets a little deep and dark with the arrival of a wounded Roy and his round-a-about hanger-on girlfriend Ginnie(Gwyneth Paltrow). Ryan makes the best of the dialog. The scenery is interesting, bleak and humble; filmed at Monohans in the vicinity of Odessa, Texas.

A decent film noir, with all the characteristics of the genre. The movie was far too long though, and the ending was totally illogical. I am not one for happy endings usually, but that should have been the only plausible one considering the plot and happenings in the film.On the positive side, some good characterization, and a nice depiction of the American heartland ("cracker land"); truly depressing... Dennis Quaid, James Caan and Gwyneth Paltrow all put in good, convincing performances. Most of all though, for me the best part of this film was Meg Ryan, I just love to watch her, and in this movie she is just great! An Oscar-worthy performance (I admit this is subjective though).

I think if this movie had some carbs, everything would have been OK. Meg might have filled out her Boom Boom top. Dennis maybe wouldn't have scowled in every scene. James wouldn't have to shoot all the dirty pig farmers in their PJs. And Mrs. Se7en could have stirred up a bowl of mac & cheese for her old man instead of ripping off the dead. I guess those candy bars are carbs, but as ole Dennis says those suckers give you those nasty pin worms from sitting out in the sun. Maybe they should have called it Flesh and Bone and Noodles or something like that. By the way, Dennis, what half wit would hire that guy who was ripping you off? Everyone knows you can't trust that guy...