On the first viewing, this struck me as an overwrought film noir with the tragic overtones slathered on heavily. On second and further viewings, it struck me that seen as an extremely dark comedy, it's hilarious. The so-called comic relief becomes the entire point. Now every time the horns of "Ring of Fire" announce Powers Boothe striding in to the rescue, I'm ready to bust a gut. The supporting players become either Sean Penn's comic foils or high-strung straight men. Speaking of which, this movie really marked Jon Voight's transition from washed-up blonde leading man to a truly quirky and interesting character actor. My only complaint is that a theme from Ennio Morricone's score kept running through my head before I could remember this is the movie where I heard it.