ROMEO IS BLEEDING
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1994 James Berardinelli
Rating (Linear 0 to 10): 5.9
Date Released: 2/4/94 Running Length: 1:49 Rated: R (Violence, language, sex, nudity)
Starring: Gary Oldman, Lena Olin, Anabella Sciorra, Juliette Lewis,
Roy Scheider
Director: Peter Medak
Producers: Hilary Henkin and Paul Webster
Screenplay: Hilary Henkin
Music: Mark Isham
Released by Gramercy Pictures
Even though it takes place in the 90s, the atmosphere is pure 40s. The dialogue by Hilary Henkin could have been lifted from any dime store detective story, and it's almost a surprise to see Gary Oldman sauntering around instead of, say, Humphrey Bogart. But ROMEO IS BLEEDING isn't just an homage to the genre, it's a satire as well. Unfortunately, it has a tendency to take itself too seriously, which greatly limits its effectiveness.
Jack Grimaldi (Gary Oldman) is a crooked cop. Because his yearly salary is only "Forty-two and change", he has decided to enrich himself through several profitable deals with the local mob boss, Don Falcone (Roy Scheider). However, when one of those deals goes bad, he finds himself caught in an underworld power struggle between Falcone and a Russian assassin, Mona Demarkov (Lena Olin). It's not long before the shooting starts and Grimaldi finds himself and his wife (Anabella Sciorra) trapped in a no-man's land.
ROMEO IS BLEEDING certainly has all the elements: the cop who can't keep on the right side of the law, the cocktail waitress girlfriend, seedy hotel rooms, the long-suffering wife, the high body count, and the femme fatale. Then there's the dialogue, which includes some of the following "classic" lines: "Can I tell you what makes love frightening? It's that you don't own it; it owns you", "Whoever you shoot, you might as well marry, because you're tied together with them until the end of life. To the end of either their life, or yours", and "A life's a life--moral distinctions can paralyze you."
The atmosphere is black-and-white, even though the movie is in color. Dariusz Wolski's camerawork is evocative, as is the Angelo Badalamenti-like score by Mark Isham.
Unfortunately, the production runs into problems almost from the outset. While Gary Oldman is an excellent actor, either he's not right for this part, or he's not playing it the way it was meant to be played. His portrayal is unrelentingly grim, which effectively nullifies much of the satirical bent of ROMEO IS BLEEDING. Not only is Jack Grimaldi unlikable, but he's boring, and certainly not a match for the villainess.
Lena Olin gets the kind of over-the-top, totally nasty role that is normally given to a male actor. Her Mona Demarkov makes Sharon Stone's Basic Instinct character look like a girl scout. She's the kind of woman that will laugh while garroting you, take a chainsaw to her own arm, then ask if you want to make love with the prosthesis on or off. Ms. Olin steals every scene that she's in, although that isn't difficult considering how easily Mr. Oldman blends into the background.
Juliette Lewis is, plainly put, annoying in what is thankfully a small role. She whines her way through her lines, and her attempts to look and act sexy come across as ridiculous. Anabella Sciorra fares much better as the wife whom Grimaldi professes to still love.
The voice-over is another problem. It's certainly hardboiled, which is in keeping with the overall tone, but it's also incredibly long-winded and intrusive. Whatever can be said in ten words is dragged out to twenty or thirty. It doesn't take long before the viewer begins to wish Mr. Oldman would just shut up and let the story get moving on its own.
Comparisons with Quentin Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS and TRUE ROMANCE are inevitable, but ROMEO IS BLEEDING comes across as an inferior product. Tarantino may operate in the same genre, and with equally bloody scripts, but his characters have greater depth and his stories are more energetic and powerful.
Without Lena Olin's performance, ROMEO IS BLEEDING could have been an ordinary, or even sub-par, film noir. However, with a villainess as fun as Mona Demarkov, it's impossible not to find some enjoyment amidst Gary Oldman's dreadful seriousness and all the bloody corpses. There are some plot twists, and a few unexpected happenings, but in the end, it's Ms. Olin's character that keeps the audience in their seats.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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