Bound.

Bound, 1996. Directed and Written by Andy and Lana Wachowski.
starring: Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano.

"Corky, a tough female ex con and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caeser." (IMDB).


This is what I've been blathering about; this here is *something.* Despite the fact that this is far from perfect, it's a compelling story that was made into an interesting, competent film. Some of it's a little far-fetched, maybe just a tad hurried, and clearly Jennifer Tilly's voice is like tin foil on fillings, but other than that? Really nicely done.

Let's just get the sex out of the way immediately, yeah? Wow. Of course the first time I saw this film that was pretty much all I remembered, who wouldn't? I don't think there was much mainstream lesbian sex in media-circulation back in 1996, was there? And before this film, both actresses annoyed me (GINA GERSHON IN SHOWGIRLS?) but somehow they just worked in this, really well. Some may argue that the characters were cliche, but I think it still works because this was kind of an exercise in excess---the sudden sex, Vi's breathy knockout persona, The Mafia, Caesar literally washing and ironing mob money, and so on. The Wachowskis are filmmakers who obviously dig extraordinary stories and love production; they are extremely well-practiced in both. There were technical moments throughout that were definitely forerunners to The Matrix films: bird's eye shots from above, slow dollies over objects, tight focus on objects in general (paint, phones, money, etc.). Awesome. These are two writer/directors that I completely put my faith in; I've honestly loved everything they've done.

That all said, the two things I loved best about this film were: Two *gay* women, pulling one over on the Mafia, and the new red truck at the end. Nice job.