| “ | You got nothing, kiddo. Snake eyes. The house wins. | „ |
| ~ Kevin Dunne to Rick Santoro. |
Kevin Dunne is the main antagonist in the 1998 film Snake Eyes.
He was portrayed by Gary Sinise in his second villainous role, who also played Det. Jimmy Shaker in Ransom and Shaw in Open Season.
Biography[]
As a member of the United States Navy, Kevin Dunne served on the U.S.S. Renville during the Gulf War. When the Renville was hit by an Iraqi missile, he was forced to give the order to seal up portions of the ship to prevent it from sinking, costing a number of sailors their lives. Their slow, agonizing deaths traumatized Kevin, driving him to desperate extremes in pursuit of his goal to protect U.S. soldiers.
In the following years, Kevin returned to the United States and rose up the ranks of the Department of Defense, eventually becoming a trusted advisor to Secretary of Defense Charles Kirkland. He also became a business associate of Gilbert Powell, a defense contractor with side activities in the fields of real estate, broadcasting, sports and gambling. Powell entrusted Kevin with selling the AirGuard, a newly developed missile defense system, to the U.S. government. However, the AirGuard failed to work as designed. Out of a shared desperation to ensure its sale - Kevin to protect U.S. ships using the system, Powell to gain enough money to finish his Powell Millennium Arena in Atlantic City - they tampered with the system before presenting it to Kirkland, tricking him into believing the test was a success.
To celebrate the AirGuard's apparent success, Kirkland and Powell organized a trip to Atlantic City for a heavyweight boxing match at the Powell Millennium; Kevin used his rank to obtain the post of Kirkland's liaison for the trip. Unbeknownst to the secretary, Kevin had hatched a conspiracy to assassinate him well in advance. Working through a military associate named Serena, Kevin arranged for champion Lincoln Tyler to throw the boxing match in dramatic fashion, pretending to be knocked out following a cue from Zietz, another conspirator posing as a drunk fan. He hired a known terrorist, Tariq Rabat, to act as the gunman and shoot Kirkland once the crowds were distracted by Tyler's defeat, after a disguised Serena led Kevin away to open up a line of sight. With their plans in place, the conspirators waited until Julia Costello, a Powell weapons analyst who discovered the deception with the AirGuard and contacted Kirkland, appeared. Once she entered the picture, Rabat mortally wounded Kirkland but failed to kill Julia; nevertheless, Kevin killed Rabat and planted a suicide note in order to create an alibi for himself and frame Rabat as the mastermind.
Kevin's friend, the corrupt and flamboyant police detective Rick Santoro, began investigating the murder after noticing that Tyler woke up instantly upon hearing the gunfire, despite supposedly being knocked out. He was able to coerce Tyler into confessing that he was contacted by Serena on behalf of the conspirators, who offered to wipe out all of his gambling debt if he cooperated with them. Tyler also disclosed that the drunk who was to give him the signal to go down had a radio in his ear, providing a vital clue that led Rick to realize the conspiracy's existence. Rick, unaware of Kevin's deceit, revealed his suspicions to his friend, believing that with the roles of Rabat, Tyler, Serena, Zietz and the person on the other end of Zietz's radio, the assassination of Kirkland was a deeper conspiracy than it initially seemed. Kevin told Rick of Rabat's supposed plans to disrupt the sale of the AirGuard by killing Kirkland, in order to throw off his friend's investigation. He then murdered Serena and Zietz to prevent Rick from getting to them, and approached Tyler to pull him deeper into the conspiracy.
In the Millenium's casino, both Kevin and Rick discovered Julia's whereabouts at the same time and gave chase. Kevin beat Rick to the elevators and boarded the same one Julia soon entered, but he was unable to kill her as Ned Campbell, a casino patron Julia was pretending to seduce in order to hide in his hotel room, was present. Kevin lost track of them and could not catch up before Rick got to Campbell's room and took Julia into protective custody. Julia exposed Kevin's corruption to Rick, a fact he soon confirmed by checking a newly-installed floating camera and seeing Kevin near Rabat during the shooting in its footage. Now caught, Kevin confessed to Rick that he aimed to use the AirGuard to prevent attacks on ships like what had happened to the Renville, and stated that even though it didn't work, it could be fixed after it was sold. Kirkland posed a threat to the funding for the system, leading Kevin to arrange the assassination. In order to locate Julia, the last loose end in his scheme, Kevin offered Rick one million dollars to turn her over. Rick ultimately chose to refuse the bribe, and warned Kevin that Tyler would talk, only to learn that Tyler had taken Kevin's side.
Kevin had Tyler beat Rick, and ultimately knocked Rick out himself, but still could not obtain Julia's location from him. Changing tactics, he planted a tracker on Rick and waited for his former friend to regain consciousness, then followed him to the warehouse where Rick had hidden Julia earlier. He drew his gun and demanded that Rick bring Julia out, unaware that Rick had contacted the police, who were arriving outside during the confrontation. A tidal wave from the hurricane hitting Atlantic City demolished the back wall of the warehouse, allowing Rick to rush through the door and shield Julia while Kevin was caught brandishing his gun by the police. Initially confused by this turn of events, Kevin attempted to convince the police that Julia was a criminal, then pleaded with Rick to back up his claims, only for Rick to refuse. Cornered by both the police and a news crew, Kevin attempted to escape back into the Millennium, only for the warehouse door to have locked behind him. He then looked back at the camera recording him and committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest.
Following Kevin's death, the AirGuard was scrapped and Powell restructured his company. Major Congressional hearings were held, with numerous individuals in danger of prison time. Rick also ended up sentenced to prison for his previous corruption. Ultimately, Serena's ruby ring was seen in one of the newly erected concrete pillars in front of the Millennium, revealing how Kevin disposed of her and Zietz's bodies.
Alternate ending[]
In an alternate ending to the film that was cut before completion, Kevin's fate played out differently.
As in the final cut of the film, Kevin follows Rick to the warehouse and demands he bring Julia out so she can be killed. In this version, Julia does come out, and Kevin holds her at gunpoint in the tunnel. Before he could execute her, however, the tidal wave hit the boardwalk and flooded the tunnel, washing the fallen Powell Millennium globe into the passage. While Rick and Julia hid against the wall, the globe rolled over Kevin, crushing him to death.
Scenes tied to this ending remain in the final cut of the film; the Powell Millennium globe is repeatedly highlighted in multiple shots throughout the film, and in the final scene, Rick mentions to Julia that he still thinks about being back in the flooded tunnel and wonders how he would be talked about if he had drowned.
Associates[]
Lincoln Tyler: A boxer known as the "Atlantic City Executioner." He is the heavyweight champion at the start of the film but is paid by Kevin's group to throw the match in exchange for all of his gambling debt being paid off.
Serena: A soldier who serves with Kevin and plays the role of a femme fatale. She disguises herself with a red wig and acts as the conspirators' representative in recruiting Tyler, then pretends to be a spectator at the fight without a ticket to create the illusion of Kevin becoming distracted prior to the assassination.
Zietz: Another soldier who poses as a drunk at the fight. His role in the conspiracy is to give Tyler the signal to go down, via shouting the phrase "here comes the pain."
Tariq Rabat: A terrorist hired by Kevin to serve as the assassin. He is unaware that Kevin plans to kill him immediately after the shooting and frame him as the mastermind of the conspiracy.
Gilbert Powell: A billionaire defense contractor and businessman who owns the Powell Millennium Arena. He invests in Kevin's plan to kill Kirkland and ensure the AirGuard's sale hoping to gain enough profit to finish the construction of the Millennium.