Mátame suavemente

"Killing Me Softly" tells of a couple who has sex, gets married, and then has problems because she (Graham) grows increasingly suspicious of him (Fiennes) whom she never really got to know before the marriage (duh). On the downside, the film has a thin story full of plot holes and implausibilities with ponderous music which is always off target and a perfectly awful school girl performance by Graham. On the upside, it's a good shoot with good camera work and lots of Graham skin. Overall, "Killing Me Softly" is a classy loser only for the less discerning viewer who wants a little suspense (very little) to zone to. (C)

"Killing Me Softly" has one of those scripts that just don't give the audience a break - not only does it set up an improbable situation, but the big "twist" at the end is also mind-numbingly predictable (unless perhaps you haven't seen a thriller before in your life). The chemistry between the two leads is also lacking; Fiennes brings some physical magnetism to his role but as far as his acting is concerned, he's an inexpressive bloke, while Heather Graham is ALL TOO expressive - she overemphasizes every emotion her character is supposed to feeling by making faces at the camera. Besides, she's not even that attractive; even her co-star in this particular film, Natascha McElhone, blows her out of the water in that department. In spite of all that, Chen Kaige's direction is good, and he creates some suspenseful moments. So I give the film a generous "** out of 4" rating.

There are many implausibilities in this movie. This is not exactly erotica, nor is it drama (the characters barely speak and considering that, the expressions are not enough). HG's character, Alice, seems too cute to be sexy and adventurous.

Also, I have watched many films with similar endings, so I could guess it much earlier. However, the red herrings were nice.

I couldn't understand the loose end of Alice's boyfriend seen with her colleague.

Overall, I feel that this film's premise could have been explored on film much better than how it was. And the acting was rather on the poorer side.

One of the worst movies I've seen in a very long time. Heather Graham can't act. If the part called for a bimbo, then maybe she fit the bill. She's almost as bad an actor as Raquel Welch was early in her career.

It goes to show what a bad script and direction can do to an actor like Joseph Fiennes who was so good in "Shakespeare in Love" and "Elizabeth". It would be hard to imagine that the good actors in this film didn't know it was a turkey when they were making it.

This film almost is in the category of so bad it's good. I did chuckle from time to time at some of the ludicrous dialog and scenes. But, if you're looking for that type of movie, a much better choice is "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls".

I fail to understand why all the critics are coming down on this film with such vicious fury. Granted, this is not a Hitchcockian masterpiece, but please, give the movie a break. The same critics give decent marks for movies which are really way below this one, and sometimes even to pure trash, as long as they have a good Hollywood pedigree. Well, this one may not have the proper pedigree, but I nevertheless found it to be a very decent thriller, one that kept me interested and on edge most of the time, had a plausible story, and one whose ending was not totally predictable (which is more than you can say for most thrillers nowadays).

All in all, a good evenings entertainment for adults, well worth watching.