Palmetto (film)

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Palmetto

Directed by	Volker Schlondorff
Produced by	Al Corley Eugene Musso Bart Rosenblatt Matthias Wendlandt
Written by	James Hadley Chase (writer) E. Max Frye (screenplay)
Starring	Woody Harrelson Elizabeth Shue Gina Gershon
Music by	Klaus Doldinger
Editing by	Peter Przygodda
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	February 20, 1998 April 2, 1998 June 26, 1998
Running time	114 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Palmetto is a 1998 neo-noir film directed by Volker Schlöndorff (as Volker Schlondorff) with a screenplay by E. Max Frye. It is based on the novel Just Another Sucker by James Hadley Chase.

[edit] Plot summary

Woody Harrelson plays the character of Harry Barber, who is serving time in prison after being framed in a corruption scandal.

Before his arrest, he was a reporter for a local newspaper that uncovered widespread corruption in the local government. After rejecting a bribe that would have ensured his silence Harry soon finds the funds deposited into his bank account and he is promptly arrested. Now, two years later, he is released when an ex-cop's testimony vindicates him. Though he is bitter against the town officials, Harry wanders back to Palmetto with his girlfriend Nina, who has been patiently waiting for him. Unable to find a job, he spends his days lounging in a local bar. In walks Rhea Malroux, the very attractive femme, wife of the richest man in town, who offers him a job: help her and her daughter Odette scam the old man out of $500,000 with a bogus kidnapping scheme, in which Harry would receive a ten per cent cut. Tempted by both Rhea's seductive charms and the prospect of some quick cash, Harry goes along with the plan. But when Odette winds up dead, and all indications point to Harry as the murderer, he finds himself way over his head.