Palmetto

A satisfyingly deceptive film noir featuring two unapologetic cheap-thrill vixens. The first is played by Elisabeth Shue, with a pop-eyed gaze and a grin that looks ready to bite. Chloe Sevigny is a long-stemmed baby temptress who revels in the power to reduce men to panting dogs. Explaining that they’re the wife and stepdaughter of a dying millionaire, Shue and Sevigny curl themselves around Woody Harrelson, as an ex-con seeking payback against destiny. The humor in Palmetto arises from the rawness of the hero’s desperation, the way that his hormones, and his hunger to make a buck, overwhelm what little good sense he has. B+