A solid cast work to overcome some cheesy material in this neo-noir caper. <br>&nbsp;

A solid cast work to overcome some cheesy material in this neo-noir caper.

Harry Barber, Woody Harrelson, reluctantly returns to his home town of Palmetto, Florida, after wrongfully serving two years in prison; his girlfriend, Nina, Gina Gershon, welcomes him back, but the former journalist has a chip on his shoulder. He`s easy prey for the irresistible Reeya Malroux, Elisabeth Shue, wife of the town`s richest citizen, and Reeya has a plan to extort money from her husband by faking the kidnapping of her stepdaughter, Odette, Chloe Sevigny. Harry finds himself up to his neck in trouble...Palmetto, based on a 1930s crime thriller called Just Another Sucker, by British writer James Hadley Chase, is unlikely material for German director Volker Schlerndorff, whose literary adaptations are usually more upmarket - think of The Tin Drum for example. With Palmetto he tries for neo-noir, but the result isn`t nearly as enjoyable as the recent Wild Things - a similar sort of film - because the plot contrivances, which might have worked in the 30s, look pretty silly today - the climax is almost worthy of a silent serial. Luckily, the cast struggles to overcome the cheesey material; Woody Harrelson is stoic as the sucker in question, while Elisabeth Shue, Gina Gershon and Chloe Sevigny work wonders with their shallow characters. There are moments of steamy intrigue in Palmetto, but mostly it all seems overcooked and underdeveloped.