In the Palm of Your Hand

ramosbarajas

de Cordova, renowned for playing morally conflicted men against carnal and cunning femme fatales, gives us a similar performance here. Palma's performance shines above. As is the case with most of Gavaldon's films, the story is very straight forward, and often the characters seem underdeveloped. A recurring flaw in Gavaldon's films. For me it's a nice film, but not perfect.

the_mentaculus

A kind of Double Indemnity with an occult twist. Frankly, I would have liked more of the latter than the former - when it starts to make too much sense, the picture loses some interest. Perhaps because of the need for mystery, I ultimately found Carmen Montejo's Clara - the wife of our tragic Odysseus figure - uniquely compelling as the strong-willed second-fiddle. A minor gem.

Renton47

After an intriguing and ambitious opening sequence, 'Palm' quickly abandons any pretense to the grandeur. It's a shame because the duplicity of fortune-telling intersected with doomed fates seems like a promising noir premise. The remaining is straight-forward, with a lack of motive or character particularly hindering plausibility. It's not bad, just not distinct enough from the pack.