The screenplay (based on Nicci French's novel) is cringeworthy, and Kaige's inability to spot when English-speaking thesps are reciting rather than acting produces scenes that vary from lifeless to laughable.
Comment
08/03/09
Killing Me Softly (2002)
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Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:21
Fresh:0
Rotten:21
Average Rating:3.4/10
Consensus: Respected director Chen Kaige's first English-language film is a spectacularly misguided erotic thriller, with ludicrous plot twists and cringe-worthy dialogue.
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: A happy marriage and a comfortable job become meaningless diversions to Alice Loudon (Heather Graham) when a seductive stranger (Joseph Fiennes) enters her life. With smoldering good looks and an... [More]
Starring: Heather Graham, Joseph Fiennes, Natascha McElhone, Ulrich Thomsen
Director: Chen Kaige
Reviews for Killing Me Softly
Top CriticA hilariously bad movie that has to be seen to be believed.
12/30/06
Top CriticInane and shopworn material with a truly cheesy final twist, this is made excruciating by direction that takes it all deadly seriously.
06/24/06
Top CriticSpectacularly awful film that’s actually funnier than many so-called comedies.
10/30/02
Turkeys don't come plumper than this.
07/11/02
Top CriticFails so fundamentally on every conventional level that it achieves some kind of goofy grandeur.
06/25/02
A risible drama, torpedoed by lifeless performances, a muddled screenplay and anonymous direction.
06/25/02
Top CriticWith miscast leads, banal dialogue and an absurdly overblown climax, Killing Me Softly belongs firmly in the so-bad-it's-good camp.
06/10/02
Top CriticNothing about the story hangs together, the characters become increasingly stiff and unbelievable, and the incessant red herrings finally become too much to bear.
05/05/02
As Graham attempts to uncover the truth about his past, the film grows increasingly convoluted, leading to a twist ending that will come as a surprise only to those who've never seen a Shannon Tweed movie.
08/03/09
Why, you might ask, is master director Chen Kaige wasting his time on such trashy material?
08/03/09
What a disappointing waste of good talent!
10/18/08
A turgid erotic thriller that plays like Zalman King-meets-vintage Brian De Palma without the latter's wit or style.
05/21/08
Top CriticIt's pretty campy-silly, but it's surprisingly watchable for some reason, maybe because of the name-brand actors sleazing it in this Skinemax would-be classic.
01/01/06
No review available.
10/21/05
No review available.
10/11/05
No review available.
09/21/05
Though its rather routine script is loaded with familiar situations, the movie has a cinematic fluidity and sense of intelligence that makes it work more than it probably should.
05/28/03
Click to read the article
06/13/02
What a great shame that such a talented director as Chen Kaige has chosen to make his English-language debut with a film so poorly plotted and scripted.
06/11/02
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