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Movies / On DVD / Femme Fatale
Femme Fatale

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Femme Fatale (2002)

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Reviews Counted:133

Fresh:64

Rotten:69

Average Rating:5.4/10

Consensus: The thriller Femme Fatale is overheated, nonsensical, and silly.

Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

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... 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]

Starring: Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote, Gregg Henry

Starring: Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote, Gregg Henry, Rie Rasmussen, Eriq Ebouaney

Director: Brian De Palma

Director: Brian De Palma
Screenwriter: Brian De Palma
Producer: Tarak Ben Ammar, Marina Gefter
Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Studio: Warner Bros.

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Reviews for Femme Fatale

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81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Femme Fatale offers nothing more than a bait-and-switch that is beyond playing fair with the audience. Are we dealing with dreams, visions or being told what actually happened as if it were the third ending of Clue?

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
11/07/02
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

Some of this stuff seems clearly intended as a joke, but it's never quite apparent how much.

Full Review Source: New Times | comment Comment
11/07/02
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
New Times

De Palma’s radical script-flip [of the genre] is a healthy indication of film culture rejecting the stupidity of crime movie violence and, with it, the failure of the imagination.

Full Review Source: Matinee Magazine | comment Comment
11/07/02
Jeremiah Kipp
Jeremiah Kipp
Matinee Magazine

Bad girl, worse movie...In the De Palma oeuvre, ranks toward the very bottom, somewhere between 'Body Double' and 'Raising Cain' on the one hand and 'Mission to Mars' on the other.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
11/07/02
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

It's as if De Palma spent an hour setting a fancy table and then served up Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

Full Review Source: Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) | comment Comment
11/07/02
Josh Larsen
Josh Larsen
Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)

Nearly surreal, dabbling in French, this is no simple movie, and you'll be taking a risk if you choose to see it. I enjoyed the ride (bumps and all), creamy depth, and ultimate theme.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
11/06/02
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

Romijn-Stamos drinks sexual sweat in with every breath.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
11/06/02
Joshua Tyler
Joshua Tyler
CinemaBlend.com

Pretty amusing when the director apes Hitchcock, and pretty awful when he apes himself.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
11/06/02
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post

More tawdry than titillating, what should have been sultry is more often skanky.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
11/06/02
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

Stupefying, big-budget compendium of erotic thriller cliches.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
11/06/02
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

De Palma shoots with such confident joy in the way movies can twist us around their little fingers.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
11/06/02
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

At once half-baked and overheated.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
11/06/02
Todd Anthony
Todd Anthony
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

While the model turned actress certainly has the looks, body and sexy moves for the part, she simply doesn't pull off the more important aspect of the character, and that's the personality.

Full Review Source: Screen It! | comment Comment
11/06/02
Jim Judy
Jim Judy
Screen It!

Sexy and passably entertaining, with a plot that's too clever by half.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
11/06/02
Edward Guthmann
Edward Guthmann
San Francisco Chronicle

This is pure, exciting moviemaking. You won't exactly know what's happening but you'll be blissfully exhausted.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
11/06/02
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

De Palma -- a master of kinky, delirious visuals -- hooks you good.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
11/06/02
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone

The shallow themes and contrivances of Femme Fatale aren't enough to justify the flashy De Palma technique or the blatant exploitation of eroticism.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
11/06/02
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Though there are entertaining and audacious moments, the movie's wildly careening tone and an extremely flat lead performance do little to salvage this filmmaker's flailing reputation.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
11/06/02
Rod Armstrong
Rod Armstrong
Reel.com

It's the best bad movie out there.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
11/06/02
Jay Boyar
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel

The rest of the plot is impossible to explain without blowing whatever tension there is, although it's more comedy than suspense De Palma creates.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
11/06/02
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
all

Latest News for Femme Fatale

July 28, 2006: Trailer Bulletin: Hartnett, Scarlett & Swank in De Palma's "Black Dahlia"
Master of suspense / veteran storyteller / admirer of Hitchcock / Brian De Palma has a new film on the horizon, his first since 2002's "Femme Fatale," and it looks to... More...

July 20, 2005: Get Your First Beautifully Gruesome Peek at "Slither"
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 freaked-out monster from an upcoming horror flick called... More...

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