Man, more people need to discuss just how much of an influence David Koepp has on pop culture. He wrote I Come In Peace, sure, but he’s also had a string of blockbusters to his credit. Death Becomes Her, the Jurassic Park series, Carlito’s Way, Mission Impossible, Stir of Echoes, Panic Room, Spider-Man, Angels and Demons, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, War of the Worlds and more — that’s a pretty great line-up of work to have on your IMDB.

Atlantic City police detective Rick Santoro (Nicholas Cage) is watching boxing champion Lincoln Tyler (Stan Shaw) fight Jose Pacifico Ruiz (Adam Flores) with his best friend for life, U.S. Navy Commander Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise), who is also escorting Defense Secretary Charles Kirkland (Joe Fabiani) and arena director Gilbert Powell (John Heard).

At the start of the first round, Kevin is distracted by two women: Serena (Jayne Heitmeyer), a redhead with a ruby ring, and Julia (Carla Gugino), who has a platinum blonde wig on and a white satin suit. As Ruiz scores an upset knockdown, a gunshot is heard. Kirkland falls and Julia is grazed. Kevin kills the sniper and locks down the arena while Julia runs into the casino.

Here’s where the twists begin. The punch was a worked one and the champ took a dive, paid off by the redhead and there was a Palestinian terrorist named Tarik Ben Rabat waiting to kill Kirkland over the U.S. government sending missile systems to Israel. As Julia runs, Rick wants answers and, well, Kevin may want her for other reasons. De Palma gives away the twist early, but to him, this movie was more about the relationship between two friends and how they deal with an event that threatens their friendship.

After a life of doing whatever he wanted, Santoro finally does the right thing and it costs him everything. His family, his career, his friend and even his freedom. But he’s finally free, I guess. It’s a really intriguing hero’s journey.

What I love about Snake Eyes is that it has an uncontrollable narrative set inside controlled studio sets and the Montreal Forum. We don’t get outside until the very end of the movie. As for the closing, it was originally going to end with a tidal wave, but there wasn’t enough money. That said, that unmade ending is referred to throughout this movie.