Femme Fatale

Femme Fatale
by Brian De Palma

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• Femme Fatale is a contemporary film noir about an alluring seductress (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) suddenly exposed to the world -- and her enemies -- by a voyeuristic photographer (Antonio Banderas) who becomes ensnared in her surreal quest for revenge.Running Time: 115 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R Age: 085392446124 UPC: 085392446124 Manufac

DVD Reviews of Femme Fatale

DVD Review: A visual treat! Not perfect, but wicked and fun....
Summary: 4 Stars

I did not see this movie when it originally came out as most reviews, with the exception of Roger Ebert, tore it to shreds. While "Femme Fatale" may not be the most original or best acted movie, it is a big, juicy, sexy thriller and I have not had as much fun trying to figure what was going on since seeing "Memento" or "Ocean's Eleven". While this movie is not as original as "Memento", De Palma's technical progress as a director and love of film noire make this a treat for the eyes and ears. There are some insane plot twists which enter into surreal territory and strong surprise elements, including one which brigs together some of what I originally thought were huge holes in the story. I am purposely not saying much about the specifics of the movie as I hate it when reviewers spill then beans on important details.

De Palma has always been fascinated with voyeurism, misogyny, amazing action sequences, superb style, technology and the difficulty of making moral judgments and of separating reality from illusion. Many of his films deal with the creative process or the representation of reality and "Femme Fatale" does not deviate from the aforementioned. Some accuse De Palma of aping Alfred Hitchcock and now of aping himself, but while I can see how this perception may bother some, my ultimate determinant of whether a movie is good or not is if it kept me involved. The answer here is an easy yes and I loved how he used split screens and some amazing watery images that he has used before, BUT the technical bar has been raised in this movie and there are several extended sequences which set the movie in gear that involve almost no dialogue that may be some of the most entertaining and elegant pieces ever filmed. Ultimately the movie has nothing "profound" to say, but it leaves you with a sweet taste of having been challenged and entertained.

There are several clues along the way and I loved the way it tricked me fair and square, and on second viewing the attentive viewer will notice several clues to suggest what De Palma is up to. The performances are hard to judge as the movie is very light on dialogue, and many of the words that are spoken come across as if the characters are imitating movie actors, much like was done in "Far From Heaven." Some have destroyed Rebecca Romijn-Stamos acting, but while she may or may not be a great actress, I found her perfectly cast in this movie as she's gorgeous, icy, and fearless. I am not a fan of Antonio Banderas and this movie did little to change that, but luckily he is not on screen too much. Peter Coyote is his usual amazing self. The gorgeous Danish model Rie Rasmussen also brings not only her breathtaking beauty to the table, but manages to keep a straight face in several scenes that objectify her to a degree rarely reached by De Palma. Some will hate me for thinking that this is a good thing, but De Palma is masterful in bringing new visual perspectives to his recurring fetishes.

In a nutshell, if you have liked some of De Palma's previous movies, especially those that I mentioned above, you will quite likely love "Femme Fatale". I know that I did. While I sometimes wish that De Palma would up the ante on the originality of his stories to match the level of his craft, or that he would be less misogynistic, (and one could arguably add racist or homophobic to a certain degree in this particular movie), I had much more fun watching it than I expected and it easily earns 4 stars. De Palma, unlike many of today's directors, allows his personality, fetishes and quirky humor to come through without worrying about focus groups or political correctness. While one could argue that De Palma may be a screwed up guy who should move on to other subject matters/genres, I just hope that he continues to entertain us in a genre that I find to be very fascinating and that few manage to do well.

Description of Femme Fatale