Click to read the article
Femme Fatale (2002)
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Synopsis: Director Brian De Palma returns to familiar terrain with FEMME FATALE, a loopy, sexy thriller that plays like a "greatest hits" of the controversial director's tics, tricks, and obsessions. Here the story follows a beautiful seductress (Rebecca Romjin-Stamos) who betrays her cohorts... Director Brian De Palma returns to familiar terrain with FEMME FATALE, a loopy, sexy thriller that plays like a "greatest hits" of the controversial director's tics, tricks, and obsessions. Here the story follows a beautiful seductress (Rebecca Romjin-Stamos) who betrays her cohorts during an elaborate diamond heist at the Cannes Film Festival, then disappears to America under the stolen identity of a dead French girl to whom she bears an uncanny resemblance. Seven years later she returns to Paris when her American husband (Peter Coyote) accepts a position as French ambassador. That's when Antonio Banderas, as a goofy photographer, enters the picture and becomes her lover and dupe in another elaborate scheme. Along the way there's steamy lesbianism, misogynistic violence, split-screens, double-crosses, time loops, VERTIGO-style stalking, a hot striptease, and plenty of dark comedy and sly homage to other films, all in the classic De Palma tradition. His fans should be thrilled, as this harkens back to the director's DRESSED TO KILL, BLOW OUT, and BODY DOUBLE days. Novices should prepare to throw credibility to the wind and just enjoy the stylistic bravado, the twists and turns, and the ravishing Stamos--who backs up her beauty with a captivating, enigmatic performance. [More]
Genre: Action/Adventure
Starring: Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote, Gregg Henry, Rie Rasmussen
Screenwriter: Brian De Palma
Producer: Tarak Ben Ammar, Marina Gefter
Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto
DVD Info
Release:
Jan 3, 2005
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Snap Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - French
Additional Release Material:
- Featurettes - 1. FROM DREAM TO REALITY
- 2. DREAM WITHIN A DREAM
- 3. FEMME FATALE: BEHIND THE SCENES
- Bonus Footage - 1. Comparison Between FEMME FATALE and DRESSED TO KILL
Reviews
Brian De Palma returns in full style with his best movie since Scarface.
Rebecca Romijn's sexy performance will no doubt mercifully distract some viewers from the silly story, overblown melodrama, and general cheesiness.
Like a great bottle of low-cost wine, it’s a sexy, silly, thrilling indulgence to satisfy your cravings.
De Palma pulls his own switcheroo on the real story as it's about to reach its climax and replaces it with a fake one.
...suspenseful and sensuous, exasperatingly preposterous, and almost every minute entertaining.
Wickedly funny, visually engrossing, never boring, this movie challenges us to think about the ways we consume pop culture.
So what was De Palma thinking...did the moviemaking mastermind behind such intriguing fare like Blow Out, Scareface, and the super-charged Mission: Impossible drink too much cough syrup to the point where it left him uncharacteristically disoriented?
Como obra de arte, este projeto falha grosseiramente (e vai despertar a revolta de muitos espectadores). Já como exercício cinematográfico, merece um pouco mais de atenção.
What's so fun about this silly, outrageous, ingenious thriller is the director's talent. Watching a Brian DePalma movie is like watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie after drinking twelve beers.
Related Forums
by: dragonball-z 11/7/02
Pictures
News
posted by Scott Weinberg July 28, 2006
Master of suspense / veteran storyteller / admirer of Hitchcock / Brian De Palma has a new film on the horizon, his first...
posted by Scott Weinberg July 20, 2005
Chalk it up to a relatively slow news week, but the crew over at CHUD.com just got an exclusive peek at this crazy gory...


Top Critic