Sexy thriller 'Bound' shimmies beyond boundaries
By Dini S. Djalal
JAKARTA (JP): To all those who say female actors rarely get top billing, here's a film starring two women and little else. In Bound, the directorial debut of brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski, Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon are in practically every scene, and making the most of their celluloid moments. A comedy noir masquerading as a mafia thriller, this independent teaser should whet the video addict's fantasy of a Thelma and Louise in black leather.
Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis may never live down their gun- toting reputation, but they're not the only actresses stealing screens with a bullet-packed purse. Sharon Stone, Linda Fiorentino, Nicole Kidman have all basked in the spotlight playing conniving seductress-cum-killers. Girl-power gained through the barrel of a revolver? Or is this just kinky kicks for Hollywood executives who get off seeing Beverly Hills bombshells in murderous girlfriend roles instead of just plain girlfriend roles?
Who cares, it's just entertainment. And for all its lesbian smooching and butch posturing, Bound carries no significant message underneath the lacy black bras. Its unique premise -- two lesbians team up to get rid of a mafia boyfriend and loot off his US$2 million in the process -- simply did not live up to its initial promise. A well of sinister possibilities lay in the story, but, unlike the smoldering actresses, the filmmakers, who have been in the business for 27 years, played it straight. With more wicked minds steering the cameras (think David Lynch or the Coen Brothers), Bound could have been a dark alley classic.
The intrigue is simple: Girl meets girl, girl gets girl, girls lose boy. It's the mob that messes up their plans of sashaying into the sunset with a stolen pension plan. It's standard heist- gone-wrong, except the getaway plan is plotted not by scum in bad suits, but by gorgeous vixens in tight clothing.
After giving her the sexy eye in an elevator, Violet (Jennifer Tilly), the stiletto-heeled girlfriend of Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), a Mafioso money-launderer, coaxes the tattooed Corky (Gina Gershon) first into her bed and then into crime. Or, rather, back into crime, as the source of Corky's wise-ass attitude is a five-year stint in the slammer for theft. Between fondling each other's buff bodies, the lovebirds mastermind a scheme to steal Caesar's mob money and get him killed in the process. Only he doesn't get killed, forcing Violet and Corky to get down and dirty to get even, similar to acting out the male fantasy of a World Wrestling Federation match in string bikinis.
Modern Gothic
The movie starts like a modern gothic -- a moody orchestral soundtrack serenades an artfully meandering camera. It felt like a scene out of King Kong, except the beasts this time are not hairy but immaculately waxed.
Yet like the sleek legs of bombshell Jennifer Tilly, the film is clean. The uncensored version (unavailable in Indonesian theaters but stocked at all reputable laser disc shops) has lots of long steamy kisses (longer than even most onscreen hetero lip- locking) and even a nude mid-coital scene. But the girls were still playing stereotypes. Gershon (back on top after the Titanic-sinker Showgirls) is the truck-driving "husband" to Tilly's miniskirted mistress. No revolutionary role-playing here, and not much witty flirtatious banter either once they got into the sack.
It was just all a little too Hollywood safe. Sure, you have Gina Gershon swaggering through gay bars, but, with her sexy lips and tousled hair, she's still a babe in plumber gear. In fact, she was overdoing the masculine pose, perhaps to compensate for her natural beauty. It's a shame, because she's a camera-stealer even without the macho act.
Jennifer Tilly is a less predictable toxin -- her nail varnish is Vamp, but her voice is Minnie Mouse. Tilly is the queen of coquettes, standing so close to Gershon that you can practically smell her lust. The pre-mating air of tension was the best part of the movie -- it's not often that you see girls flirt so outrageously well with each other. In their glamorous portrayal of a lesbian relationship, Bound is a brave film. But even braver is the heaving, sighing Tilly, offering her body to Gershon with genuine lovestruck breathlessness. Tilly is an actress to watch, and not least because she's got a stacked figure worth watching.
What is also worth watching in Bound is the camerawork. Birds- eye shots, super close-ups, swift and symbolic movement, and creepy mood lighting -- the film is a tribute to clever cinematography. But perhaps all the expert production was the problem. The dark humor barely showed underneath the gloss. This is a potentially fun film that takes itself too seriously.
For example, the script was straight-faced instead of sarcastic. Nearly every time the actors spoke -- save for Pantoliano, who had all the best lines -- you knew what was going to happen next, that's how predictable their lines were. And though Gershon and Tilly move like cats, they talk like snails: slack, flat, and boring. After awhile, you just didn't want to listen, even when the talk was murder.