Noir-vember: Femme Fatale (2002)

Written and directed by Brian De Palma, Femme Fatale is entertaining and frustrating in equal measure. It's De Palma at his most playful, which can be very good or very bad, depending on how you usually react to his style.

Rebecca Romjin plays a woman who helps to steal some very expensive items in a daring robbery, and then you get the inevitable treachery and chaos, which leads to Romjin then heading somewhere she can lay low for a while. It turns out that she picks a home in which a woman who looks remarkably like her already lives. And that woman is about to commit suicide, which could lead to a whole new life for Romjin. If she can keep herself relatively hidden away.

The first time I watched Femme Fatale, I hated it. None of it is even remotely believable, the performances are all played at different levels, and De Palma seemed more interested in indulging himself than giving viewers a film. That all remains true, and yet I enjoy it more nowadays way more than I did on that initial viewing. Maybe it's because I know that De Palma almost always seems more interested in indulging himself whenever he directs a movie, maybe it's because I knew how things were going to play out so didn't invest in something I thought may develop towards a realistic finale, or maybe I just enjoyed the pulpiness of it all a bit more this time.

The script remains pretty awful though. This is De Palma at his most inept. He has given himself a plot that allows space for some of his favourite themes, yet he's also painted himself into a corner with other aspects of the plot that need to be focused on. Which leads to him seeming to just mash everything together with no attempt to blend the seams or edit the better sequences into something more generally cohesive. It's not hard to follow, it's not completely incoherent, it's just too much style over substance, leaving viewers feeling as if they are missing out on one or two pieces of the puzzle, ensuring that the completed product never quite satisfies as it should.

Romjin is excellent in the lead role, although that's largely due to her look and presence. There are times when she's mangling an accent, but there's usually a reason for that, and she's very believable as the kind of woman who could weave a spell on one or two useful men. Peter Coyote is one of those men, meeting her at just the right time and offering hope that could also turn very sour. The other male lead is Antonio Banderas, playing that De Palma favourite, the man always happiest viewing the world through the lens of a camera, and seeing something that wasn't meant for his eyes. The other main players - Eriq Ebouaney, Edouard Montoute, and Rie Rasmussen - all do decidedly . . . okay, but they're used as and when De Palma requires things to move along, as opposed to being as determined and effective as we know they would be in this situation.

A film that feels, in many ways, like a final film from De Palma, Femme Fatale isn't up there with any of his best work. There's fun to be had here though, especially if you are familiar with the style and recurring motifs he has always put front and centre over the years.

5/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy the movie here.