Palmetto is a town in Florida where nothing is quite what it appears. Palmetto the movie tries to show us this, in the spirit of film-noir, but succeeds only in a limited manner. The plot is based on a James Hadley Chase novel (Just Another Suspect) and in retrospect, there are certain elements of Chase that work well in a film-noir setting. Unfortunately, by the end of the movie Palmetto becomes ludicrous.
Harry Barber (Woody Harrelson), a news reporter, has just been released from prison, after being exonerated of a crime. Barber is naturally upset for having two years of his life taken from him. This results in him playing right into the hands of two con-artists who enroll Barber in a fake kidnapping scheme.
The movie doesn't really pick up until the "kidnapping" occurs, after which everything starts to falls apart for Barber: things simply aren't what they appeared to be. As we follow the movie while it twists and turns, it gets harder and harder to suspend disbelief. The character played by Barber, on one hand, is dumb as a post, but on the other hand, we are expected to believe this is the same person, who as a reporter threatened to expose corruption in the city government and refuse to accept money in exchange for silence.
There is a some humour in the movie, arising from Barber's ineptitude. The acting is okay, but except for Harrelson and Chloe Sevigny (playing the "kidnappee"), the movie could've used better-suited actors. I'd wait for this to come out on video, so you can fast-forward through all the slow parts.