Rating: 
Summary: De Palma's best film since 1989's "Casualties of War"
Review: Is Brian De Palma an artistic genius, or what? This is his best movie since 1989's "Casualities of War" and 1987's "The Untouchables." While "Femme Fatale" isn't as character driven as "Casualties of War" or "The Untouchables", it still draws you into the story much like "Scarface" (also directed by De Palma) where it was hard to like any of the characters of that film either.The budget for the film was only $35 million. Normally I'd stay away from a movie starring Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. But the way critics talked about "Femme Fatale" made me want to see it, so I bought the DVD. De Palma wrote "Femme Fatale" and during one of the featurettes after watching the movie on DVD, one of the producers said how about 1/3 of the movie was in the script, and the rest of it DePalma came up with while shooting (the way the film looked.) The producer who said this had worked with many directors including Spielberg. The idea that De Palma shoots a film the way he does must be very challenging, but at the same time exciting for the cast and crew. De Palma admits that those seeing "Femme Fatale" will be split down the middle near the end of the movie upon finding out what's been going on for the past 100 minutes. But like Antonio Banderas says in one of the featurettes, De Palma doesn't care. He'd rather be artistic and challenge his audience. Whether that comes across to you like it did for me, I guess that depends on what kinds of movies you like you see. The film is beautifully shot by Thierry Arbogast, and the score by Ryuichi Sakamoto couldn't be better. Antonio had some very funny lines, and the two French actors who are in on the original heist are perfect for the movie. Not at any point was I disappointed except with one line of dialogue said by Antonio which was cornball, but Rebecca's follow-up fixed it. The set decoration by Françoise Benoît-Fresco was fascinating. You'll understand what I mean when you see what he does with Antonio's apartment... Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised and look forward to watching this again and again. I guess the only thing I can complain about is why doesn't De Palma do any commentary tracks on his DVDs?
Rating: 
Summary: All Style, Little Story
Review: Femme Fatale is Brian De Palma's all style, little story film noir about a woman (Rebecca Romijin-Stamos), who makes some poor choices ensnaring an innocent (Antonio Banderas) in her web. It's got the signature De Palma eye candy - eroticism, clever cinematography, and a film which moves by pure style alone - but in the end you'll feel empty, and, unfortunately coming up on the short end for the time you invested in it. The film begins with a spectacularly improbable jewel heist at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival in which Rebecca and team plot to relieve a mostly naked actress of her few bodily coverings - a priceless gold and diamond serpentine bodice and accoutrements. Although visually and musically interesting, the opening scene asks for many oversights from the viewer - such as ignoring the fact that much of the caper's plan, despite its high tech Mission Impossible style setup, relies on guards looking the wrong way and Rebecca being irresistible. Things go awry, and in the end Rebecca double crosses her team, makes away with the goods, and searches for another life. She finds one in a couple searching for their runaway daughter, who Rebecca is such a dead ringer for that the woman's own parents can't tell the difference. She assumes her identity, claims her tickets to America, and, through fate, falls into the romantic embrace of the American ambassor who is on the plane. Life is great until paparazzi photographer Antonio Banderas snaps her elusive picture, announcing her presence to the double-crossed bad guys. From there on Rebecca seeks the exit-stage-left route which nets her the most money at any cost. The story plays like a check list of eroticism - there's voyeurism, a striptease, trists at the Cannes Festival. Brian De Palma does it all with style - split screen, sweeping camera angles - and it is fun to watch him in action - but it's still not enough to plug the holes of the story. The ending attempts to pull all of the dark themes of the movie into a happy silver lining, but will leave you betrayed. Despite the star power, I didn't enjoy Femme Fatale. True, Rebecca wasn't blue - fans of her X-Men role won't be disappointed. Antonio Banderas' character had one or two interesting scenes, but on the most part trounced along doing whatever he was manipulated into doing, with no original solutions out of his situation. Seeing him come up with a clever escape would have been a much better ending - but, as it is, instead the end relied on an overdone gimmick to get out of it's dreary finale. Pass on Femme Fatale - even if you're looking to see Rebecca in a non-X-Men light. Despite all the glitz it just isn't worth the investment.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost Fatal
Review: "Femme Fatale" is a maddening movie in that it makes you think you're watching a bad film - one filled with preposterous plot twists, implausible coincidences and logical fallacies - only to discover about two-thirds of the way through that there actually is a method to the filmmaker's madness. The filmmaker in this case is Brian De Palma who continues his fascination with body doubles, telling the tale of a beautiful French woman named Laure who makes off with the booty from a heist gone wrong (a theft done at the Cannes Film Festival, no less) leaving her accomplices empty-handed and lusting for revenge. Almost immediately, Laure - rather too conveniently, I'd say - stumbles across her very own doppleganger, assumes the stranger's identity and attempts to make a new life for herself in America. But life can be a tricky business at times, and Laure finds herself back in Paris seven years later (actually 2008) with a number of scores still to be settled. For most of the film's duration, the plot is so preposterous and goofy that it plays more like a PARODY of a De Palma (and by extension, of course, Hitchcock) work than a straightforward mystery film in its own right. Yet, just when we are about to relegate the film to the trash heap, damned if De Palma doesn't pull the rug out from under us and show us what he has been up to all along. (We also find out why all the clocks in the film are set at 3:33, though I have yet to figure out the significance of that particular time). The turnabout may not be enough to rescue the entire film for some people, but at least those with a metaphysical turn of mind may feel less demoralized and cheated than the die-hard literalists in the audience. The film is rife with the usual De Palma touches: the gliding, probing camera; the voyeur's-eye view of the action; the chic, ultra-cool fashions and disguises; the moody Hermann-esque score. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos is slinky and sexy as the "bad girl" Laure and Antonio Banderas is nicely put-upon and befuddled as the photographer who gets pulled into her web of deception. "Femme Fatale" will probably irritate most viewers up until the point where the surprise twist occurs. After that, it's anyone's guess what the reaction will be.
Rating:
Summary: De Palma's Underrated thriller!!!
Review: Femme Fatale is classic De Palma and filmmaking at its best. Working with his own clever screenplay, De Palma indulges us in his trademark obsessions--he once again uses inspiration from Hitchcock (isn't that what he does best?) with a Vertigo-like plot that begins with a suspenseful heist at the Cannes film festival and ends with a dream-like quality where nothing is what it seems. After the heist, the beautiful thief Laura (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) quickly assumes a new identity, marries a U.S. senator (Peter Coyote), and returns to Paris, where she falls into a relationship with an eager paparazzo (Antonio Banderas), who is quickly sucked into her schemes. Her past quickly catches up to her. In her best role to date, Romijn-Stamos is the perfect femme fatale. She is beautiful, sexy, and deadly. It's her delicious performance that gives the film that extra bite. It amazes me why this film got so many terrible reviews. It was fast paced, very clever, and expertly directed by a man who certainly knows what he's doing. Once again his genius use of the split sceen is amazing. The beautiful scenery was stunning and the performances were wonderful all around. Femme Fatale is truly one of the most underrated films of 2002.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Buildup . . .Ultimately Spoilt
Review: Femme Fatale is a super chic thriller set in Cannes and Paris where beautiful people go to a lot of trouble to steal a priceless diamond studded 'bustier'. But there is much more going on in this film which tends to use stunning filmography and music rather than dialogue to keep the audience fixated on the machinations of the major characters.
Laure/Lili, played by Stamos, steals the show; she's everything you would expect a femme fatale to be--beautiful, sexy, clever and lethal. Banderos, on the other hand, is weak; I found his performance almost unneccesary, almost annoying.
As intriguing as the quantum physics parallel universe theory can be, the probability curve in the film's first disclosure to the audience collapses miserably. Its unbelievability heightens to almost absurdity in the following scene and then semi-redeemed at the film's conclusion. The idea here is less satisfying than when employed in Mel Gibson's Signs where seemingly unrelated instances in time seem to click together in some grand design revealed only when necessary.
More enthralling here is the atmosphere of glamour and the heady sense of watching Stamos get away with what we all know we would have to pay for in spades.
The film oscillates from French to English quite naturally, so if you are not one for subtitles or little dialogue, skip this one unless Stamos's lithe beauty is too enticing to pass up.
Rating:
Summary: FEMME DEJA VU
Review: FEMME FATALE (Warner) contains every element you'd expect from Brian De Palma: Hitchcockian twists, voyeurism and a misogynistic sub-text. Rebecca Romjin-Stamos is the film noirish bad girl who brings men to their doom and Antonio Banderas is a photog ensnared in her fatal mystique. Spoiler warning: the long dream sequence left me feeling betrayed by the filmmaker after I was enticed by the story of the jewel heist during the Cannes film fest. Is De Palma toying with self-parody? Limited extras and, sadly, no commentary.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful in all ways
Review: All the movies I've watched over time has made me pretty critical. I just have to say I walked out with a very good feeling after this movie. It flowed so well. The music...
The storyline...
The flamboyance... Great job! The DVD itself has a very complete features section.
Rating:
Summary: Femme Fatale excellent transfer to DVD
Review: This movie was the "love it!" or "hate it!" experience of 2002. It's a Brian De Palma affair, and if you liked DRESSED TO KILL and BODY DOUBLE you will love it! I thought it was a fun erotic ride with a lot of style. Beautifully photographed, and teasingly esoteric - it became sort of a "what if De Palma made MULHOLLAND DRIVE". Sit back and have a lot of fun! At it's heart this is just a big beautiful popcorn movie! The performances of the actors are surprisingly fun. Rebecca Romijin Stamos plays the lead role, and she's sexy and fun. She's been a victim of weak scripts for some time, and here she emerges as a very capable and strong actress. Antonio Banderas plays a European paparazzi who falls into the web. He's playful and quick! The DVD has a great transfer of the film! Included are many featurettes with interviews of almost everyone involved. Brian De Palma never records commentaries for his DVDs, but he does do interviews which plunge the depths of anything you might want to know. There are two trailers - one foreign and one domestic. The French trailer is a real treat! It shows the entire film in high speed from opening credits to final, and then teases you with "You just saw the new Brian De Palma film ... didn't get it? ... try again!" The perfect sentiment to this film! Either you get it or you don't. Roger Ebert named it one of the best films of the year, other critics either praised it or panned it. There was no middle ground! But the passion for film-making is here - the joy and the style make it infectious. A movie you can watch again and again!
Rating: 
Summary: 3 bucks down the drain
Review: Dear sirs:
The highlight of this film was a brief chick on chick scene in a hotel bathroom that led to 1.5 hours of crappy gallic plot. As it turns out, the chick is dreaming in the end anyway. Imagine Jaques Chirac's version of Ocean's Eleven, except there is no Vegas in France, and everyone is speaking a language that is practically dead. This movie is less intellectually stimulating than an A-Team marathon.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe the Worst Movie Ever Made?
Review: Boy, Jeff Shannon is really off with his editorial review here. This movie is a real stinker, and fails on every possible level, beginning with the acting, the characters, and the story. Here's the catch: you have to see it to believe it, so how do you do that? Buy the DVD? Rent one? You've already lost by giving the filmmakers your money. IMHO, Brian DePalma lost his mind around the time he directed Bonfire of the Vanities. The most amazing thing about Femme Fatale is that anyone financed it!
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