Palmetto MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 1/2 Content: -2

Former reporter Harry Barber (Woody Harrelson) was framed and sent to jail for not taking a bribe from corrupt officials in the town of Palmetto. Two years later, he's free because someone told the truth. The only reason for returning to Palmetto is his girlfriend Nina (Gina Gershon). When Rhea Malroux (Elisabeth Shue) offers him a job, he sees a chance to get even with Palmetto before leaving. Married to a rich but ailing older man, Rhea hires him to help fake the kidnapping of her stepdaughter. He's then hired by the assistant District Attorney to be press liaison for the kidnapping. When the stepdaughter ends up dead, Harry feels the frame closing in again. It's a sometimes humorous but twisted and tangled web as Harry tries to cover his trail, keep Nina in the dark and figure his way out of the frame. Harry's early attempts to be honest are eventually corrupted by greed and a desire for revenge. Part of his weakness is his inability to resist women's advances. After he gets out of jail, Nina greets him with a sensual kiss and begins removing his clothes, and it appears they live together.

There is no on-screen sex, but it is implied twice with Rhea, who entices Harry with her tight-fitting, low-cut dresses and seductive behavior. During their first meeting, he spills a drink on her leg which she then raises for him to wipe off. When he runs his hands over her body to check for hidden microphones, she asks him to check again. Rhea also appears to have a relationship with the bodyguard. The stepdaughter implies that sex occurred between her and Harry, but he denies it. Violence is limited to a few intense, grotesque scenes The bodyguard puts a dead body in a tub and pours acid over it, and later falls into a vat of acid himself. Excessive foul language includes 25 f-words and God's name used frequently in exclamations. The sexually suggestive content and many obscenities makes PALMETTO a place to avoid.

Preview Reviewer: Paul Bicking
Distributor: Columbia Pictures, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232