Femme Fatale

(1991) Femme Fatale MYSTERY THRILLER

A park ranger Joseph Prince (Colin Firth) wakes up and finds that his newly married wife, Cynthia (Lisa Zane) has left just left him leaving him with nothing more than small note. To relieve his sorrows he then seeks comfort by moving and then staying with his long time friend, Elijah (Billy Zane) and we find out that they are both painters and artists for a long time, and that Joseph's wife went up and left him after 3 days of marriage. It is during then he finds more things about his wife he knew nothing about like he thought he was married to a Cynthia Baker but her actual name is Mara Sade.

As I sat in front of the TV watching this movie, I thought, "Oh, what Alfred Hitchcock, or even Brian DePalma, could have done with this!" Chances are, you will too. It does start out intrigueing. A British park ranger living in Los Angeles (Collin Firth) marries a pretty, demure brunette woman (Lisa Zane) whom he met in a park only a short time ago. Then, one day she dissappears. The police are unable to find any documentation that she ever existed, and Firth conducts his own search. So far, so good. Just as he's about to give up, he turns to his womanizing best friend (Billy Zane), and they stumble onto her former life in L.A.'s sordid underground of drugs, nightclubs, and ametuer filmmaking, and then to her history of mental instability. At that point, Firth's life is in danger, and the film falls apart. None of the characters from Lisa Zane's past are remotely interesting. The film moves slowly, and there's very little action. There is a subplot regarding missing drug money, but it's just a throwaway. No chases, no cliffhanging sequences, and no suspense. Just some dull beatings and a lot of chat by boring characters. One thing worth noting, Lisa Zane and Billy Zane are brother and sister, but they never appear in a scene together. By the end of the movie, you're torn between wondering what might have been and trying to stay awake.

Granted I'm a Colin Firth fan but I really enjoyed this movie. It has an interesting plot with unsuspecting twists and turns that keep the viewer focused until the end. Even the reviewer that said it was bad watched it all the way through.

Don't even think of being tempted to watch this because of the intriguing premise of a disappeared bride. This is no "Breakdown" or "The Vanishing". What it is, is a total waste of time. Beyond the initial idea, the script seemed made up as it went along. The characters are unlikable, the premise preposterous, and the entire movie is pointless. This is like trying to make sense out of a jigsaw puzzle with quite a few missing pieces. Unfortunately I stayed with it, hoping to find at least one redeeming quality that would justify my patience. None could be found, and you have been warned not to make the same mistake. - MERK

I am trying to watch all of Colin Firth's filmography. This is the first dud so far. Generally his films are intelligent, engaging and interesting. He almost always plays the same lovable character but with an amazing depth of feeling and nuance. This film was one of his earliest productions. Clearly it is an outlier. One of the truly worthless films of all time. Not because of the acting but because of the implausible and absurd plot with an equally inane script. It should be classified as a horror film. Every other actor in the film is a complete unknown. And the setting, in a Los Angeles slum, adds to the depressing ambiance. The topless model posing with a bag over her head is a clue to the pathetic, degraded tenor of this work.