Boiling Point MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +3 Content: -2 1/2

Jimmy Mercer (Wesley Snipes) is a black federal undercover agent out for revenge. A good friend of his, another federal agent, has just been shot in cold blood and he's determined to track down the perpetrators. Through some very astute detective work and perseverance, he identifies two suspects, Red Diamond (Dennis Hopper) and his partner, Ronnie (Viggo Mortensen). Both are ex-cons now dealing in counterfeit money. Red Diamond's favorite hang-out is an upscale dance hall called The Palace. He even shows up there with Vicki Dunbar, a shapely prostitute who secretly is working with Jimmy and the Feds. Jimmy's determined efforts to bring Red and Ronnie to justice culminate in a suspenseful confrontation at The Palace. BOILING POINT is an absorbing detective mystery with both Snipes and Hopper giving fine performances.

In a film featuring sleazy ex-cons and tough undercover agents, you can expect some unsavory lifestyles and violent encounters. BOILING POINT has its share of both, including closeups of point blank shootings and views of bloody victims. Red has a rather touching relationship with his former wife, but she wants nothing to do with him. Ronnie's girlfriend is fed up with him also. But one scene implies Ronnie will have sex with his girlfriend, and another shows Red and his estranged wife in bed with her breasts partially exposed. Typical of this genre, f- and s-words are used frequently along with some profanity. Jimmy's wife has broken off from him because of his unstable lifestyle, and has taken in a live-in boyfriend. Rejected, Jimmy takes up with prostitute Vicki, and sex is implied in a bedroom scene. BOILING POINT is engrossing, but its obscenities and profanity are irritating and it tends to imply that promiscuous sex and adultery are routinely acceptable.

Preview Reviewer: John Evans
Distributor: Warner Brothers, 4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA 91522