Romeo Is Bleeding (1994)

Waste of time

Very best movie i ever watch

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

The main character in the film 'Romeo is bleeding' is not at all an ideal person to deal with as he has too many bad qualities. He is a corrupt cop who is turning out to be a bad influence on his wife. No woman has been able to get emotional satisfaction from him as he has deceived all of them including his mistress as well as wife. As a film noir with plenty of comic touches, Romeo is bleeding begins with the protagonist explaining his downfall. It might sound to be a very ordinary description of a film noir but director Peter Medak has made his film interesting especially in the manner the story has been told. He brings the protagonist closer to his contacts in order to understand his motives. Although actresses Juliette Lewis and Annabella Sciorra have got limited lines for their secondary roles, they have managed to do their best to change their man. Finally, it is actress Lena Olin who get maximum amount of praise in her role as a femme fatale who is responsible for ruining everybody who oppose her. For his philandering ways, Gary Oldman was a perfect choice as a policeman cum romeo whose irresponsible actions bring about his downfall.

I was looking at blurays/dvds at Carrefour a few days ago (European version of Walmart) and I saw the DVD of Romeo Is Bleeding in the cheap DVD section. Generally these are crap films which nobody buys. It was 5.99 TL (Turkish liras). I looked at the back cover and saw that Gary Oldman, whom I think is one of the most underrated actors ever, starred in the film. I consider him to be very talented. I bought the film thinking it might be good and it was not only good, it was actually amazing. The cinematography was beautiful, Oldman and Olin were very good in their roles, the rest of the cast was also good though I think James Cromwell could have a bigger part. The storyline was good and I was not bored for a second, I was interested in what was going to happen next throughout the movie so the pacing was well adjusted.The film is a film noir set in the 90s with a sort of New York we have not seen before. Some people might claim the psycho woman character was unrealistic but I do not think so, many criminals are not like normal people, and she's a prime example.In short, this is one of the most unknown great films that can be bought for a low price. It is underrated and not known by many people, but it is still a classic crime thriller.

There are a lot of actors who made their initial claim to fame through their "dangerous" persona, Tim Roth, Nicolas Cage, Mickey Rourke, Jack Nicholson and in more recent years Colin Farrell, to which I say puh-leeze.Ladies and gents I give you Gary Oldman -True Romance, Leon, Immortal Beloved, even Air Force One, he plays a crazy better than almost anyone.In Romeo Is Bleeding Oldman is out-crazied by Lena Olin.Big time.Oldman plays Jack, a corrupt cop who takes money from organized crime by selling out informants, witnesses and such. He tells them where the guy is, they whack him. Jack also juggles a wife, a girlfriend and a roving eye, which leads him to get caught by the FBI trying to get it on with a Russian hitwoman he is supposed to be handing over, (enter Lena) as Mona.Mona gets away, the underworld (headed by Roy Scheider) is p****d, and tells Jack to finish the job personally, or else.Jack was already a little stressed but this tweaks it up a notch, what with his girlfriend and wife both threatening to leave, and when he finds Mona she counter offers with a payment to tell the bad guys that she has been killed, assuming by the time they work out they were duped she will have left the country.The basic lesson here is don't trust anyone, by the time Jack sorts himself out he has Mona and the mob trying to kill him, he loses a couple of toes to the latter at one stage, and over a few meetings works out than Mona is absolutely nuts, and will do anything necessary to get what she wants, and I mean anything.Everything about this film is just a bit off kilter, meaning that at times it can feel quite surreal. The tone is always kept dark and if anything it is perhaps a bit of an update on the traditional noir films of the early years of Hollywood, only with a twist.I did like this film, even though it took a while getting where it was going, I guess sometimes you can over-twist things. I have heard some people worship this film and place it right at the top of their all time lists, and they have every right to, though having seen it a couple times I just don't get it personally.What I put that down to is I think everyone has a phase where they decide what it is that they actually like, as opposed to what they think they should like, believe it or not some never work this out.This in large part explains Gwen Stefani's mainstream success.During the immediate period after you make your decision you upgrade anything a couple points, for me this caused me to elevate movies like "Tremors" and "Deep Cover", and I suppose for some "Romeo is Bleeding" is their example.Final Rating – 7 / 10. Watch if only Lena Olin going so far Over The Top that she creates a new level of overacting. (I call it "Lithgow-ing". ) If you liked this (or even if you didn't) try oneguyrambling.com

Lena Olin's performance, no matter how cartoon-like, is memorable as the hit woman from hell. The movie itself is vicious, and extremely disjointed. For example, how did Roy Scheider suddenly and without explanation wind up in the trunk of Lena Olin's car? Another problem is Lena's miraculous recovery from severing her arm. A movie should be more than the sum of it's parts, which "Romeo is Bleeding" is not. There must be a story here somewhere, but from my viewpoint, the movie makes little sense. Ultimately it is this uneven and somewhat unbelievable storyline that sucks the film down to levels that are less than acceptable. "Romeo is Bleeding" never adds up. - MERK