Mixed feelings

faraaj-1

I have mixed feelings about this film....in the first half an hour it sets up the cat and mouse game with Tilly, a gangster's moll and secret dyke falling for her lesbian neighbor ex-con Gina Gershon. When her boyfriend (an excellent Joe Pantaliano) steals $2.137 Mn for the mafia, the two ladies decide to steal it from him. The cat and mouse games that ensue are the bulk of the film.

I liked the twists and turns in the movie. The direction, photography and especially the lighting were superb. In the cast Joe Pantaliano stands out but Gina Gershon is quite good. This is a superb debut for the Wachowski Brothers who went on to make the Matrix Trilogy (Part 1 of which was quite good).

What I didn't like was that the whole love thing between Tilly and Gershon seems quite contrived. They have two brief "fingering sessions" and they're in love! Also, Tilly may be a good actress but I didn't like her. None of the characters is sympathetic but Caesar is so nasty and vicious he becomes a sort of anti-hero.

The film is quite violent but there is very little in the way of sex so I'm surprised at the R rating.

score 6/10

faraaj-1 29 May 2006

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1380724/