A lot of famous directors didn’t hit it out of the park the first time. They’re still rough around the edges, handicapped by a small budget and no big name actors. But that can also be what makes their directorial debuts so wonderful.
Like the Coen Brothers, the Wachowskis had a great thriller with their first movie
They hit paydirt and fame with The Matrix. Yet their first movie, Bound, barely broke even. It found its fan base on home video and cable, which is where it helps because you want to go back and see if you missed something. Like Blood Simple., you have to pay very close attention.
The movie is set mostly in an affluent Chicago residential building in two adjacent condos. Corky (Gina Gershon) is an ex-con whose been given a job to renovate a condo apartment. But she feels the odds are already stacked against her. Next door are Caesar (Joe Pantoliano) and Violet (Jennifer Tilley). Caesar is a money launderer for the Italian Mafia in Chicago and he’s rising through the ranks. Violet is a former dancer who has become his live-in girlfriend who is immediately attracted to Corky. They eventually fool around and then have sex.
But things change when a mob associate, Shelly (Barry Kivel), is tortured for skimming money which is Violet’s breaking point. Corky, herself, is disturbed by it as she hears it in the next apartment. When Shelly finally gives up the money, he is shot by Johnnie Marzonne (Christopher Meloni), a cocky and violent son of Gino Marzzone (Richard C. Sarafin) who is the brother of the head of the Chicago outfit.
Caesar punches Johnnie because the money is covered in blood now, meaning Caesar literally has to wash the money and then let it dry and iron it so it doesn’t ruin. Gino is also coming into to Chicago to collect the money as Caesar works endlessly to get it cleaned.
Corky and Violet devise a plan to steal the money and make it appear that Johnnie snuck in and stole it. However, once Corky takes the money, the plan doesn’t go as intended as Caesar refuses to run but confront Johnnie in front of Gino. Caesar and Johnnie don’t get along because Johnnie treats him as an inferior and flirts too much with Violent in front of Caesar.
Corky and Violet have underestimated Caesar as he has some support from his immediate superior Mickey (John P. Ryan).
Gershon wasn’t the original choice for Corky as Tilley read for the role. However I think it works as Gershon was coming off Showgirls where she played a manipulative prima donna. Corky is a tough as nails character but she knows her limits. Also Tilley plays up the femme fatale role with her distinctive voice.
Even though it’s set in modern times, it feels like it could’ve been a film noir gangster movie from the 1940s where people double cross each other and no one really knows who to trust.
The claustrophobia of the two condos give the impression everyone is trapped.
Even the two scenes in a bar and one in Johnnie’s house don’t feel right. When Corky goes to an lesbian bar, she feels like she’s unwelcome. Her own home feels bare and unwelcoming.
Tilley was coming off an Oscar nomination for Bullets Over Broadway and Violet is a lot smarter as it seems she knows how to come up with a solution when an emergency arises.
Lana and Lilly Wachowskis manage with the expertise of Bill Pope as director of photography to make every shot count. Most impressive is when Violet calls Corky, the camera follows the call from Violet’s land-line to Corky’s where it twists around as there is a knot in the cord. And just like what is happening, the plan to double-cross and frame Caesar is a straight line.
Even though the plot uses the same-sex relationship as a plot device, it doesn’t exploit it. Since the movie was released both Wachowskis have transitioned to transgender women. Corky and Violet aren’t victims nor is the sex too graphic as opposed to heterosexual sex scenes.
The same-sex device is a nice twist but the plot works if Corky was a man. By the second half, you really don’t seem to notice because the story has sucked you in so much.
Zane Says 