Bound [DVD]

This was great adult entertainment with some great scenes of tension, especially when the plotting of Violet ( Jennifer Tilly) , the 'femme' and her dyke lover Corky start to come apart. The prize is two million dollars of Mafia money, simply 'business' as Violet, the gangster Caesar's moll puts it. She has always wanted 'out' and, when the two meet in their apartment building, the erotic tension starts to sizzle.Corky has just spent over five years in jail and had been given a plumbing/decorating job in the apartment next to Caesar and Violet's abode. The walls were very thin. Caesar is middle-management Mafia who had taken over a club where Violet worked about six years previously. The club has operated as a money-laundering operation for years except for the fact that the manager, Shelley, had been doing a spot of skimming to the tune of the aforesaid two million dollars. This became the central point of the ladies' interest.It did not take long for Violet to seduce Corky in three steamy scenes . The first encounter was when Corky went to Violet's apartment to retrieve an ear-ring when she 'accidentally' lost down the sink waste pipe. As Corky left work later, Violet gets in her truck and whispers to a cynical Corky ' I'm not going to apologise for what I did do. I want to apologise for what I didn't do! ' Her voice was reminiscent of the breathiness of Marilyn Monroe,Fenella Fielding and Joan Greenwood. At Corky's room, after they've just made love, filmed with a tracking shot of the pair, Violet tells Corky of the situation she was in and how she wanted out. The rest of the film depicts the very dangerous and violent journey to achieve their goal.Next day, a happier Corky comes to work on her decorating when she sees Violet enter her apartment with Shelley. Corky heard love noises through the thin walls. She thought that Violet was merely playing her along but Violet replies that it was merely 'work', she was a recreational facility. However, soon after wards Caesar brings Shelley back to the apartment in the company of two thugs; he's found out about the manager's scam and wants to know where the cash is. Johnny, Caesar's immediate boss, says to Shelley that he would lop off a finger for every question he refused to answer. Corky gets an idea of what was happening next door when Shelley's blood from his face being rammed against the toilet rim starts to seep into her toilet. These scenes were quite hard to watch but were necessary because they showed how ruthless and deadly these Mafia hoods were. From that point, one was hoping that these animals would eventually get their comeuppance.Corky and Violet plan to steal the suitcase containing the two million and, during a very tense scene with Corky hiding behind the desk on which the suitcase stood, managed to do so, putting newspaper in place of the money. The two worked together precisely to do it. Corky has placed the money in plastic bags. The tension starts to screw up from this point with bluff and counter bluff from Violet on one hand and Caesar on the other who has found the suitcase and the newspaper. The capo mafioso is due to arrive to collect the money - the top dog in charge of curs- unfortunately, Caesar has already blown away two of them.All this leads to a tremendous climax which was really worth the wait. Many of these 'caper' films involved a robbery by a gang who did not get away with it due to internal pressures or a weak link and it was that tradition which provided the essential tension. The audience knew the dangers which could have befallen Corky and Violet. The film was made even more tense by the claustrophobia of the set. All in all, a treat for fans of suspense hardened by some graphic violence

Bound is written and directed by Andrew and Larry Wachowski. It stars Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, John P. Ryan and Christopher Meloni. Music is scored by Don Davis and cinematography by Bill Pope. Plot finds Violet (Tilly) and Corky (Gershon) as two newly acquainted lovers who plot to steal $2 million of mob money from Violet's boyfriend, Caesar (Pantoliano).Quite a directorial debut from The Wachowski Brothers, a stylised neo-noir of considerable substance. Where once was man and woman treading the dark paths in film noir's halcyon days, now glides two women, lovers in cahoots, deadly femmes. The beauty of it all is that the lesbian lovers twist is no gimmick, it adds a dangerous quality to the narrative, the coupling is sexy but tender, a pair of gals who are very easy to root for, with extra tension wrung out by the slick characterisations. Both gals have been "bound" by ties in the preceding five years, Corky by way of doing a stretch in prison, let down by a former lover, and Violet in a restrictive relationship with Caesar. As the two come together, trust and betrayal are delicately perched on the see-saw, which way will it tilt?Much has been made of the sex scene between Corky and Violet that drives the plotting forward, but it would be a shame if Bound is only remembered for this scene. There is no titillation here, no grubby top shelf leanings, it's wonderfully sexy for sure, but natural passion rules the day, a believable union that underpins the drama. How nice, too, to find that in amongst the smouldering story the Wachowski's don't take a lazy option with the character of Caesar. It would have been so easy to just write him as a hapless dupe being spun to his doom by the femmes, but he no idiot, he's brainy and brawny, if the gals are to get away with their plan then they will have to work real hard to succeed. This keeps the narrative true, a rare treat not seen in some other 90s thrillers.With the dialogue pinging and Pope's cinematography sharp, tech aspects score high, with the brothers showing some deft visual touches along the way (the blood and paint finale especially is a real cracker). But none of it would impact the way it does without the trio of great performances from the leads. Tilly is slinky and kinky, a Monroesque creation, Gershon goes method, all brooding with intensity, and Pantoliano handles superbly the shift from calm mob launderer to frantic stooge. Great performances doing justice to the rich characterisations on the page. There's a slight irritant that we could have gone a touch deeper with Corky's past, while Meloni's loose cannon is too by the numbers, but these are minor blots on an otherwise terrific neo-noir landscape. 9/10

Good acting and strong story but the violence was hard to watch

After watching this with a five year gap inbetween viewings i must admit to seeing a few flaws in the film overall which i must admit to not noticing last time around. The overall theme here is film noir and this is achieved but maybe it is being over done a bit , or is that deliberate ?, Well if it is o.k. but if not then maybe they were trying too hard to get that across and it always feels like an ode to days past and all the cliche's that went with the genre. Maybe i am looking too deep here because other than the slightly over stylised look and feel its a very good and engrossing thriller with a great performance from Joe Pantoliano and jennifer tilly who just fits the bill perfect as the ultra sexy and smooth talking femme fatale. I won't go into the plot as others here have that covered !! but i would like to cover the cinematography which as much as being very stylish for its time and all very nicely shot from one of the great D.O.P's Bill Pope is also one of the major reasons for liking this film so much, and there's some nice little touches which were quite fresh at the time, such as a scene where Joe Pantoliano presses redial on the phone and hears a phone ringing in the apartment next door as the camera follows the cord from his apatment to the next, quite common now but not then. Overall i would recommend this film and can see it getting more of a cult status as time goes by if not for the fact that it's an early film from the the wachowski brothers (Directors of The Matrix) and with its stylish noir feel and the fact that it seems to be getting harder to get this on DVD i would grab it while you still can.

Did not watch all of it . Was not for me