Femme Fatale

Rating:
Summary: "Life Is But A Dream ..."
Review: Without giving away too much of the story, I can sum up FEMME FATALE's strength in one phrase: it's classic Brian Depalma ... which, sadly, is its greatest weakness.

Throughout his career, DePalma has employed a trademark style to his storytelling. At its peak (films like his most publicly accessible THE UNTOUCHABLES and BODY DOUBLE), his eye for camerawork has been utterly fascinating, pulling the viewer deeper and deeper into intricate plots of danger, derringdo, and doublecross. However, his weaving eye is the source for all the flash in FEMME, and, unfortunately, the story is left relatively flat albeit unpredictable.

Laure (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) is wonderful to watch as a jewel thief in the midst of a heist gone bad at the Cannes Film Festival. Once things make a turn for the worse, she stumbles (almost literally) into a chance for a new life, and this is the film's great narrative weakness: this virtual makeover is far too coincidental to accept. However, once the viewer gets past this, the film cranks the twists and turns up and notch again in classic DePalma style. So, if you can dismiss one little unbelievable turn of fate, this thriller is probably right up your alley; if you can't, you'll have problems with it.

Had DePalma cast a stronger actress -- Romijn-Stamos fuels some great scenes as the sexy provacateur, but she isn't exactly convincing when she needs to be -- FEMME might've created a bigger splash. This isn't to say that the film isn't enjoyable; rather, it's the kind of observation that can only be learned through hindsight.

Word to the wise: you can probably watch the first 40 minutes of the film over again after your first viewing, and you'll be surprised -- if you're watching closely -- at all of the visual cues DePalma masterly slips in along the way.

Rating:
Summary: Bad !
Review: I have not missed much of Brian De Palma's movies. In fact, I can say that some of his earlier efforts like Dressed to kill, Blow Out, Body Double, Carlito's way & Untouchables....just to name a few are examples of fine motion picture making. But, what we have here in FEMME FATALE is an absolute mis-mash. The opening sequence has got to be one of worst ever. The dialogues are lame. The camera work is similar to De Palma's earlier work Body Double...so nothing new there either. Critics say that the first 15~20 mins holds the key to a film's success. Femme Fatale loses it in the first ten minutes itself. Until a better effort.....

Rating:
Summary: Ugh
Review: Maybe it's just me. But I found this movie's plot very hard to follow. Only after it was thoroughly explained to me (as thoroughly as possible, since it leaves room for ambiguity) did I realize how truly awful and dumb it was.

I won't give away any plot points here, but in my opinion, it relied on some cinematic devices that aren't clever - they're outright cheating. There are no likable characters, and I still don't understand what motivated them--nor do I care, anymore. The visuals were fine and there was some eye candy (excluding the pedestrian and plot-unrelated voyeurism, whose effect was more boring than beguiling), so I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1. Overall, I really wish I could have this two hours of my life back.

Rating:
Summary: Unquestionably a masterpiece, how can anyone say otherwise ?
Review: I was so overwhelmed by the script, glorius visuals, inticate scores, and the 'cant take my offs you' presence of the lead actress, that I am extremely concerned about anyone who could ever call such a film rubbish.

seriously, every scene in this film is painstainkingly and so beatifully lit, directed and filmed, that it can not be described asnything other than art of the highest calibre.

Very much in the David Lynch style of story telling, I would say this film is on par with Lynch at his best, albeit without the darkness and madness that underline Lynchs film.

DePalma is clearly a master of filmaking, and his previous films prove how good he can be. I would rate this and scarface as the pinnacle of his career.

If you can watch this film, with its erotic and very sexy seduction scenes, glorius camera angles, perfect lighting, editing and scene production, and simply say the film was average, or poor, makes me very worried about the state of the human race.

Whats the future, when art becomes classified boring, and fifth rate stick-to-formula cops and robbers type films become seen as excellent ?

This film is amongst the absolute best i have ever seen, and I rate directors/writers such as Stone, Lynch, Kubrick very highly.

Miss it at your loss. this is one movie for those who have emotions, and other senses that are still very much alive.

Rating:
Summary: A visual treat! Not perfect, but wicked and fun....
Review: Brian De Palma's movies seem to have a polarizing effect on its viewers as they either love them or hate them with very little room for anything in between. Although I understand why some find his work frustrating and criticize his tendency to focus on style over "substance", he has directed quite a few of my favorite movies, including "Blow Out", "Carrie", "Body Double", "Dressed To Kill", and "Carlito's Way", just to name a few.

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.

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars If Lead Could Act
Review: The story line of this movie kept you guessing. The plot twists were many and kept my attention. However the lead was played by a model. While she looks sexy most of the time, her lack of acting ability detracted from the enjoyment of the movie. I would have given the movie 5 stars if the producer had used an actress for the lead.
If you want to watch this kind of movie I would suggest Body Double instead. The lead actress is just as sexy and she can act. The movie has the same kind of plot twists.

Rating:
Summary: typical Brian DePalma garbage
Review: this is another Brian DePalma movie that I'd wish I had never seen. His only good movie was Carrie, and that was it. Sisters, dressed to Kill, blow out, Body double and especially Raising Cain were awful.

Of course you will see naked females, the f-word used 50 times, extreme violence, and hitchcock-rip-off plot. Not the type of movie that you sit down and watch with your family. I was actually uncomfortable in the theater because I was sitting with strangers who I didn't know, and watching Rebecca Stamos get naked.

EVERY SINGLE movie that DePalma writes, is about some kind of a double. In Dressed to Kill, Body Double, Raising Cain, Blow Out, Sisters, and Femme Fatale, a woman or man is disguised as someone else, and the audience thinks that these two differen't people are really, two differen't people, when they are actually one. DePalma plagiarizes his own movies and Hitchcock.

He uses that same old PSYCHO formula over and over and over again. It's getting old.

Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: I bought this movie based on reviews of the movie from different sources. Apparently I missed what everybody else was raving about. This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I cannot believe that the same director of Scarface directed this smelly waste of a movie. This movie is constructed so haphazardly, it feels very low budget. I don't know what the director and director of photography were thinking, but the whole movie is like a train wreak of photographic styles and angles. It looks like they shot things ("hey, let's do this!") with no underlying visual or narrative reasoning behind it. The acting, while not terrible, is below standard. The music composition is also very bad. Music is a big part of how movies play off emotions for the audience and this fails miserably. There's even a "homage" to Alfred Hitchcock films in the music, but let me tell you - BRIAN DE PALMA IS NO HITCHCOCK. I cannot believe that Brian De Palma will be able to work in Hollywood after this mess. NOT Recommeded.

Rating:
Summary: Great Film Noir
Review: I fear that Roxie52 missed the point. Remember; "In the end, all things will become manifest".
That's what it took to understand the film,....waiting until the end,..'tho I did wonder about some of the clues along the way.
How many of us have wished we could 'have another chance to get it right', or at least better? Laure/Lily lived that wish.
AND, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos,... In addition to having a body that would make an 8-day clock run forever,... made being bad simply delectable. All those looks, and, She can ACT!
I mean, as Laure?/Lily?(which is which?, who is who?), She had no redeeming qualities what-so-ever.
The film is an excellent example of stunning visuals, an interesting plot line, with a twist at the end that knocked my socks off.
As for the film's musical soundtrack, one word, "Bolerish"!
As the Brits would say; "A ripping good show, well done, Old Chap"!

Rating:
Summary: An Under-rated Film with Superb Craftmanship
Review: I don't understand why works of De Palma have always been underrated. Is it because he is so skillful and clever that people jump to conclusion that the content of his work is a vacuum? Don't know. Well, for sheer visual enjoyment and tales of the unexpected, this DVD is not be missed.