Femme Fatale Reviews

De Palmad

Welcome to the parallel universe of the great Brian De Palma.This is

De Palma it his unique best in the mindzone of Dressed to Kill,Obsession, Blow Out and Body Double and definately not Mission

Impossible or Bonfire of the Vanities. It has all the De Palma

trademarks ie. erotica,dream sequences,Hitchcockian twists etc etc. Foremost it is brillantly filmed and its hypnotic quaiities will thrill you

to the ' De Palmaian ' ending. Welcome back to the master.

Nearly a classic

This is a fantastic movie. How come this was never a massive success. Well made, great script and storyline, good pacing and superb settings with interesting camera shots and unusual direction. It is the storyline that makes this film such a title contender. It's intelligent, clever and makes you think. With great twists and suprises. But ... what makes this film fantastic is the direction. On one hand it is a tribute to classic french film and suspense thriller on the other it is fanastic, as in it's characters aren't quite believable. It's a little too fanastic asking the audience to suspend belief in reality, which up to that certain point in the film had been stuck to. Still, this is one film I would recommend and one I plan to watch again. Definitely the best movie out of the 90+ I've seen so far this year.

Just wonderful - if you get the point.

Having read the review posted here and then having watched this marvelous movie, I just had to respond. Without giving too much away for those yet to see it, the last 10 minutes is what the whole film is about. There are wonderful visual clues scattered throughout the film, hinting at what is actually going on. Visually and musically the film is stunning. Watch it once, then watch it again. Then watch the DVD extras where Director Brian De Palma throws a lot of light on what he was trying to achieve. The film is a masterpiece of Film Noir. One to be watched again and again, and definitely NOT stupid.

Undoubtedly one of the worst films I have ever seen. Verging on the comical - unintentionally of course!

Enjoyable film

I didn't know what to expect from this film but it turned out to be a very watchable thriller. Okay, the pacing was much more European than American but it was an intriguing storyline with quite anunpredictable plot. The ending is a little too protracted but well worth a bag of popcorn!

Great film

I thought this would be rubbish... BUT its not.

Well worth viewing, suprising twists seeing is believing.

Brilliant 21st century film noir

Director Brian De Palma states his intentions in the first frames of the film as a television is showing the nearly perfect film noir “Double Indemnity” watched by Laure (Romijn-Stamos) lying topless on a hotel bed.

But this is the film noir brought up to date, the erotic Romijn-Stamos character must not be confused with Barbara Stanwyck in 1944, Laure is a woman with balls that does not need a man to carry out crimes for her.

Ebouaney and Henry make fine villains as Laure’s accomplices for the wonderfully ingenious heist that opens the film.

When paparazzi Nicolas (excellently played by Banderas) appears he is not an accomplice but more of a nuisance that is ruthlessly used.

De Palma has a wonderful feel for framing his action, and the photography is first class, and the important soundtrack is also very good.

This is a compelling re-working of the film noir, only slightly flawed by some impossible coincidences in the early part of the film and a surprise twist towards the end that De Palma agrees some people will like, others hate.

But these are minor flaws, a great film not be missed.

Good thriller with the delightful Rebecca Romijn-Stamos being both decorative and

interesting as a character. I liked the way the plot played with time.

Twisted fairy-tale

"Femme Fatale" was rather underestimated when it first came out.

No wonder, the film has a totally unexpected twist that goes against any current Hollywood ending.

It also has a very ammoral - and extremely sexy- main character. In years to come, it might be regarded as a forgotten classic. It sure deserves to be.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Stylish but insubstantial

Stylishly crafted film which somehow left me curiously very underwhelmed. The plot seemed unlikely to begin with and wasn't really explained until the end, and the coincidence of a beautiful woman having an exact double was very far fetched. Which all made it very difficult to follow, for me anyway, and I felt very uninvolved. Full of glitzy action but hollow.