MovieChat Forums > Femme Fatale (2002) Discussion > 3rd rate MULHOLLAND DRIVE rip off

3rd rate MULHOLLAND DRIVE rip off

posted 21 years ago by jwpappas
29 replies | jump to latest

I rented the DVD of FEMME FATALE as I had heard it was a return to form for Brian DePalma. I was thinking "Hey, great, a return to form for the creator of such classics as SISTERS, CARRIE, DRESSED TO KILL, SCARFACE, BODY DOUBLE, CASUALTIES OF WAR & THE UNTOUCHABLES". It was a return to form all right, but a return to form in the miserable veign of SNAKE EYES, MISSION TO MARS, RAISING CAINE, MISSION IMPROBABLE & BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES.

FEMME FATALE isn't even a movie--its a string of set pieces that look like a bunch of Duran Duran music videos from 1983. Back in 1984 Kathleeen Turner made another dopey sexcapade by a once geat director work--that would be Ken Russells overheated CRIMES OF PASSION. CRIMES OF PASSION almost worked because Turner got the joke & went with it. Turner is also an actress. Rebecca Romijn Stamos on the other hand is a manequin who exudes all the sex appeal of an angry old nun. She's not really that pretty either, appearing more like an above average looking secretary than anyone that would inspire intense lust. Her ludicrous Pepe' LePew French accent doesn't help much either, but its an improvement over her nasally native accent.

DePalma has been over this territory many times before, so much so that it becomes like a greatest hits package sung karoke style by a drunken Chess King employee. I guess he got tired of "paying homage" to Hitchcock so he decided to start paying homage to himself, the result being a copy of a copy of a copy.

What is so shameful about FEMME FATALE is how DePlama blatantly rips off David Lynch's far, FAR superior MULHOLLAND DRIVE. Brian "Sense? I Don't Need To Make No Stinking Sense" DePalma paints himself into a corner with his pointless script, cardboard characters, sexual tableaus straight out of a Skinemax erotic thriller & non direction of his non actress leading lady, then tries to rescue his mess ala the Betty/Diane & Rita/Camilla device that David Lynch deployed so masterfully in MULHOLLAND DRIVE. DePalma has always been a plagerist (most notably of Hitchcock), but at least he understood what he was stealing & used it to great effect. DePalman stealing from Lynch is like a 2 year old pocketing a diamond--both have no idea what they stole but like the way it looks.

Obviously DePalma has Jumped The Shark & there is no heading back.

[–] bobjamaica 21 years ago

FEMME FATALE isn't even a movie--its a string of set pieces that look like a bunch of Duran Duran music videos from 1983.

So true. I was so bitterly disappointed, for the first time in ages I considered leaving the theatre prematurely so bad were actors, script and plot alike. Next time, De Palma should buy better weed. To compare Carlitos way to Femma Fatale is like comparing Muhammed Alis first fights to his last 'fights'.... Crap of the highest order.

[–] gaiderdraco 20 years ago

How can this possibly be ripping off Mulholland Drive? This movie takes place, mostly, inside a state of dreaming. While Mulholland Drive may be dream-like, it is nothing compared to this.
Mulholland Drive does not have to make sense and is simply a film that feels like the audience is inside a horrible dream.
Femme Fatale is of a woman dreaming her future while, ironically, attempting to change her future. This film has one story and it's a good one. It speaks of irony. This film is visually pleasing and actually portrays a dangerous and mean spirited female.
Also, the acting is very commendable on behalf of Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Antonio Banderas. This is, personally, coming from an experinced actor and filmmaker.

Mulholand Drive is good, it's very good. But it's also very f_ucing far from Femme Fatale which is more solid of a piece,than Mulholand Drive, because it actually makes sense (has meaning).

[–] dvdmonster 20 years ago

How can this possibly be ripping off Mulholland Drive? This movie takes place, mostly, inside a state of dreaming. While Mulholland Drive may be dream-like, it is nothing compared to this.

Uh, spoilers. Probably 90% of Mulholland Drive is a dream. It's more than dream-like; it's a dream. Please note the POV is of someone hitting a pillow in a bed, right off the bat. ...

Mulholand Drive is good, it's very good. But it's also very f_ucing far from Femme Fatale which is more solid of a piece,than Mulholand Drive, because it actually makes sense (has meaning).

Obviously if you didn't even get the core of Mulholland Drive, you're not going to get much meaning out of it. MD makes perfect sense, but you need to know at least that what you're seeing is a young woman's dream.

[–] Nandopsis 21 years ago

I agree with what you have said except this, "She's not really that pretty either, appearing more like an above average looking secretary than anyone that would inspire intense lust."

Where do you work that has Super Models for secretaries? Can you get me a job there?

- Jason

[–] tmcpherrin89 21 years ago

Femme Fatale is a brilliant film, there is no way in hell you guys make a better film

[–] Nandopsis 21 years ago

Any film I would make would be better, as it would be an original production.

- Jason Seymour

[–] tmcpherrin89 21 years ago

No it wouldnt

[–] mafiahitman 21 years ago

Yeah, too bad the Mulholland Drive was a huge sack of nuts. This movie actually makes sense WITHOUT deliberately (I hope) trying to confuse the viewerds. Yes, I figured out Mulholland Drive. No, it didn't make the movie suck any less.

Well, I guess people that DID like Mulholland Drive can't expect to like anything of real value. Sitting in front of the movie and thinking "I don't know what I just saw, but it looked great! Thank you Lynch!" isn't exactly someone who can comment on much of anything....

[–] C.S.Wood 21 years ago

Yes, I figured out Mulholland Drive.

YOU DID??????

Mind popping over to the MD message board and filling everyone in?

Oh well, since I'm posting I'll throw my 2 cents in. I just saw FF today and I liked it a lot, not so much for the plot (which honestly isn't anything special) but for DePalma's style of direction and the music.

Yes, I think he just came up with a basic plot and constructed it as an excuse to do some cool shots in all those moody settings. I just really liked the look and feel of the movie. I wasn't even offended when he cheated us and went "dream sequence" (something I usually hate, but in this case found intresting since it was more of a change of the future thing).

As DePalma himself said on one of the DVD's featurettes, he knew he was going to split his audience down the middle with this piece. Either you love it or hate it. I wouldn't call someone dumb or stupid because they happen to hate it, though. It's just a movie for god sakes.

[–] randallbratton 21 years ago

I have to agree with you...

1. I don't think I need to rehash the fact that Mulholland was not so much a movie as an acid trip that made no sense. I was a fan of David Lynch before I saw that piece of trash.

2. Even if Mulholland had been a decent film, there is no truth to the fact that any movie with a dream sequence is a "rip-off" of Mulholland drive. At least in Femme Fatale, after she "woke up" from the dream, it was clear which part of the movie was real, and when the "dream sequence" began and ended. In fact, besides having a dream sequence in the movie, there was no resemblance to Mulholland Drive. (For example, Femme Fatale didn't suck.)

3. I don't need to rehash the fact that Mulholland was not so much a movie as an acid trip that made no sense. But I want to!

[–] coobis 21 years ago

First of all, I do not think that Mulholland Drive was a piece of trash, but rather a manipulating, disturbing, yet altogether too-fascinating-for-words work of art. I regard it as a cinematic masterpiece - easily the best film David Lynch has made since Eraserhead. But back to Femme Fatale:

Yes, it shares many similarities with Mulholland Dr, but it works on an entirely different level. The plot in Femme Fatale is preposterous, to say the least; anyone who isn't necessarily familiar with De Palma's trademark ridiculous endings may have a difficult time digesting the closing act in Femme Fatale. Yet I think that it mocks its own preposterousness. I didn't believe what was happening in the film for a second, and I don't think that you are intended to. What Femme Fatale does is illustrate how secondary plot can be: by making the plot as a ridiculous as possible, the viewer need only be seduced by the camerawork and the music... etc... (which I might add, it allows you to be - ENTIRELY). Femme Fatale was one of the most loved and hated films of 2002, and I have to add that I was one who absolutely loved it. It is a film that I can watch daily, each time being completely entranced by what meets my eyes. It is the work of a true filmmaker, one who has not only the audacity, but the pure desire, to challenge the common nations of what makes a "good film." It is a triumph of style over substance, and, since I feel this was De Palma's goal, I believe Femme Fatale is a masterpiece in modern stylistics.

By the way, I think it is his best film since, well, Carrie or Sisters. Dressed to Kill was a glorious mess, Body Double ventured into sleazy smptiness... etc. The Untouchables and Scarface are regarded as classics of their time, yet they fail to completely consume me the way Femme Fatale does. It is an intoxicating little movie.

[–] 21 years ago

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[–] Dani_la_Star 21 years ago

There are similarities, but De Palma saw Mulholland Dr.(and loved it) after having finished Femme Fatale.

"Madame is the biggest star of them all."
-Max Von Mayerling

[–] 21 years ago

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[–] Delgado665 21 years ago

Hate to burst your bubble but MULHOLLAND DRIVE was released in Paris (where De Palma lives) in January, 2002. POSTPRODUCTION was wrapping up in fall of 2001 on FEMME FATALE after being filmed throughout the summer of 2001 - a good half year before De Palma could've seen it. Congratulations, you just wasted an entire topic.

[–] polysicsarebest 14 years ago

Absolutely nothing like Mulholland Drive, you didn't mention DePalma's best film (Blow Out) and you are an idiot, period.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] polysicsarebest 14 years ago

Haha, WHAT?! In what way?

I LOVE Body Double, I've probably watched it AND Mulholland 15 times a piece and see no similarities whatsoever.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] franzkabuki 13 years ago

I don´t think De Palma had enough time to rip off Mulholland Dr. ie to write a full script, film and edit his film within one year. Anyway I like Femme Fatale - it´s a good, atmospheric, imaginative picture and a much needed come-back for De Palma after the awful Mission To Mars.

Mulholland Dr. on the other hand is one of the greatest films ever made so that much about that comparison.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan