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This movie was a pleasant surprise. It came out in 1996, when dramatic films with a strong erotic content were still in vogue. Perhaps it is one of the last to have known some success, in fact. Understandably, the film remained very much alive in the heydays of VHS, I think it made its way to DVD, but gradually fell into oblivion where it currently rests. Is it deserved? Maybe not, but it's understandable to a certain extent: it's not an excellent film, but it will be a good bet for anyone who likes erotic thrillers.

The screenplay is based on the lesbian case of two women, who become involved and decide to run away with a large fortune in mafia money, incriminating the mafia boyfriend of one of them. This is a script devoid of any kind of originality and that can only surprise for the lesbian content and the high dose of nudity, because all the violence, the profanity, the strong dialogues, the fast scenes, all of these are elements that we all expected. In a film of this type.

The work of the directors is excellent and opened the doors to the "Matrix" franchise, with which they would come to consecrate themselves before falling back into obscurity from which they rarely manage to rise. They managed to insert many nuances of film noir into a strongly erotic plot, including the aesthetics and lighting of several scenes, and the sets, costumes, cinematography and soundtrack are truly good.

The two leading actresses are Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly. None of them are great actresses, each of them has had their moments of brilliance in films where they have minor roles, and I don't think they will ever go beyond that. So, what they do here is interesting because they both showed commitment and gave a lot to the project. It doesn't mean they are extraordinarily talented or great actresses. The fact is that they got a good partnership on stage, they have a strong and credible chemistry, and the film builds on top of that effectively. As an actor, Joe Pantoliano is better and gives us the best interpretation of the film, and it's worth seeing the actor working with them.

It is hard to accept the fact that I haven't ever heard of this great Neo-Noir, written and directed by the acclaimed Wachowski Brothers (Lana&Lilly) in the early stages of their career which reached its peak with ''The Matrix'' (1999). ''Bound'' is an absorbing crime/mystery with dashes of Hitchcockian suspense, having a solid plotline and great cast such as Joe Pantoliano and Jennifer Tilly who both deliver tremendous performances in their roles of a husband and wife, the former being a made mafioso and the latter a typical 'Damsel in Distress' who searches for a safe exit from the Mob's violent characters and proceedings, while becoming infatuated with her new neighbor (Gina Gershon's character). Tilly's character, acted with a mischievous- almost manipulative- sexiness and cynical determination, hatches a plan to rob her husband of mob money, with the guidance and support from her new lover. But, as always, reality doesn't follow the plan and things spiral out of control with a high body count and Caesar (J. Pantoliano's character) on the verge of a complete breakdown as he finds himself owing to his own mob family a sum of 2.000.000 dollars. The main theme of ''Bound'' is trust between humans and the risks that people are taking, based on the trust to a closely related person. The movie, apart from its references to classic Film-Noir, brought to my mind the early Joel&Ethan Coen pictures and plotwise it will somehow remind you of the superb ''Shallow Grave'' by Danny Boyle. This is a little-known gem that is certainly worth spending the approximately 100 minutes of your precious time and it will leave you wondering why it is so hard to find similar productions in the contemporary era.

Violet is a gangster's moll, living with Caesar, who launders money for the mob. Corky is a ex-con who has been hired to decorate the flat next door to Caesar's flat. When the two meet they slowly begin a love affair behind Caesar's back. After a while Violet comes up with a plan to steal mob money and frame Caesar for it while she and Corky make off with the cash. However, there is no such thing as a simple plan.

I saw this when it was released in the cinema where the overall view seemed to be of an enjoyable noir thriller with a lesbian twist. A few years later, the Matrix has made the Wachowski brothers hotter than hot and everyone is clambering all over Bound and building up it's status and pointing to it as a hint of greatness. Now, after two poor Matrix sequels, many will come back to this film as a sign of their ability before the dollars became more important. That's the impression I get anyway, from the message boards, reviews and comments from proper critics. However, I rewatched this and tried to meet it on it's own terms rather than be coloured.

Of itself, it does the business quite effectively as a noir crime thriller. The plot is tough and, although not all that twisty, does easily engage and keep the audience pretty gripped. The lesbian stuff is done a little cynically I think - where do you draw the line between stuff that is required for us to know that the two are lovers, and the stuff that is titillation? I don't know, the film does it all very tastefully and it is not the film's fault that some sections of the audience will come to this film because it has a lesbian love scene in it. I acknowledge that it was done quite sexily and was part of the film, but the crime is the focus.

The brothers direct with great style - set mainly in a couple of flats, the film moves slickly around the place. Some shoot outs do reveal a style that was later used in the Matrix films (albeit on a sci-fi level). The slow-mo stuff is pretty good here and not overly used - little tricks like the shooting over the white paint added to the style of the film no end. Despite being bogged down in a story I believe they took too seriously, I don't think they need to prove themselves as directors - their films speak for themselves in that regard, and I do hope they get back in the saddle.

The cast is deep in talent but mostly they play it in the stereotypical characters of the genre. Tilly is a great moll, at first she appears to be the delicate flower of the film, but she is as much a femme fatale as Corky. Gershon is very sexy, despite being very glamorous for a supposedly butch ex-con; she plays her role well although I would have liked to see her become more of a fall guy towards the end, in true noir fashion - fooled by love! Pantoliano is enjoyable; his character may not have a lot of meat on it but Joe does very well with a powerful performance. Support from Meloni and Ryan is good even if they all fit the gangster clichés required by the script.

Overall this is an enjoyable genre film - no more and no less. The lesbian stuff is a nice twist on the usual formula but it isn't pushed enough to be classed as exploitative (although there's no doubt that the film gained audience as a result of the love scenes). The cast are good and the direction is stylish, making for a slickly enjoyable noir.

I watched this because I'm a big fan of the Wachowskies, and after watching their first movie(Assassins, which they only wrote) I hoped to see another masterpiece from the makers of The Matrix that had nothing to do with it. It's no wonder the producers let them direct aforementioned sci-fi/action masterpiece after they did this. For such a little amount of money, they really made the most of it. Few characters, sets and occasionally limited camera-work is easy to look past(hard to notice, in fact). The movie is breathtaking. For the entirety of the last half I was literally at the edge of my seat, extremely excited and couldn't wait to find out what happened next. The first half is mostly a setup for the last half, but it isn't boring, and is well worth watching, as it makes the second half near-perfect in suspense. The lesbian subplot might throw some people off, and will definitely offend some people, but if you're aren't one of them, then you most likely will enjoy it, if you're into thrillers. The plot is very well-written, and with twists and turns thrown in every so often, it keeps you watching closely. The acting is mostly good, especially from the three leads. The characters are great... diverse, interesting and credible. The cinematography contains several of the same things later made famous in The Matrix... anyone who's seen both movies can tell that it's the same people behind the cameras. The action is really well-done. The story-telling is just slightly experimental... reminiscent of various heist flicks. This also contains some quite stylish visuals, though not as many as the brothers' later works. All in all, just works really well and keeps you entertained throughout. I recommend this to any fan of the Wachowski brothers, thrillers and/or the actors in it. 8/10

Bound is a film for which I have mixed feelings: it looks and feels amazing, the cinematography, acting, directing, costumes, wardrobe, props, colors, moods, etc. feel like a graphic novel brought to life. Yet on the other hand there is something that smacks of "aren't we cool for doing x?" - I guess the lesbian scenes and camera work were what did this so as to give it a punk/hip feel (then again, this is not long after Pulp Fiction came out so everyone was doing it).

Having seen the Matrix 1-3 I can understand and appreciate the camera work on second viewing, but it feels like the Wachowski brothers were pushing the lesbian eroticism for the sake of shock and males in the audience. It definitely seems to be directed by males insofar as the sex scenes go (the female body is both fetishist and problematized as a threat to men throughout the film too, but that's a different subject altogether), but these are more artsy than "Skinemax" night flicks in that there is very little nudity, it was tastefully shown for the most part and a lot was told with sounds and shadows. (Personally, I think the lesbians were there for shock since a male lover would have worked just as well, but in general I think some more subtlety could have been used in the sex scenes myself since imagining it is sexier IMHO).

That said, the first half, which establishes character, does seem to drag quite a bit, but once the caper gets going it never stops. You also feel for all of the characters - surprisingly, I felt the most for Cesar, the "villain" of the piece (perhaps because of an amazing shot when he opens the briefcase and then the world seems out of whack as we look up at him).

I can't really find anything "wrong" with this film per se and it is a good film although I could have easily fast forwarded the first half and got roughly the same effect. Still I could watch this film over and over again for the way it was shot since it is amazing and there are a lot of techniques and style one can learn from it, plus the story is great too. So for this I give the film

8 out of 10 stars. Definitely worth a watch, although some of you more conservative folks might be a little put off by the lesbian scenes.