This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

which strictly speaking should not be stealable in the first place.I mean, on the surface this is one of those oddball in-color "film noire" gangstery films which Hollywood has become so fond of recently.It has an especially clever script and reminds me in subtle ways of the many cross-arcs in Lucky Number Slevin.The two stars Gary Oldman and Lena Olin both do not usually get the chance to do a star turn, they are both very under-used as primary characters, and that should be the end of the review.But it is not. Olin gives an extraordinary performance, part sensuality, part evil genius, part crazy. By the end of the film she makes Kevin Spacey look like a chartered accountant.Also a nice cautionary tale on letting your reach exceed your grasp.Extraordinary. Highly recommended.

I was looking at blurays/dvds at Carrefour a few days ago (European version of Walmart) and I saw the DVD of Romeo Is Bleeding in the cheap DVD section. Generally these are crap films which nobody buys. It was 5.99 TL (Turkish liras). I looked at the back cover and saw that Gary Oldman, whom I think is one of the most underrated actors ever, starred in the film. I consider him to be very talented. I bought the film thinking it might be good and it was not only good, it was actually amazing. The cinematography was beautiful, Oldman and Olin were very good in their roles, the rest of the cast was also good though I think James Cromwell could have a bigger part. The storyline was good and I was not bored for a second, I was interested in what was going to happen next throughout the movie so the pacing was well adjusted.The film is a film noir set in the 90s with a sort of New York we have not seen before. Some people might claim the psycho woman character was unrealistic but I do not think so, many criminals are not like normal people, and she's a prime example.In short, this is one of the most unknown great films that can be bought for a low price. It is underrated and not known by many people, but it is still a classic crime thriller.

Jack Grimaldi of New York's finest has been doing petty jobs for a mob which the department has been going after. He gets a few thousand dollars with every job, and he adds it to a pile hidden in his backyard. His latest job is to take out the Russian assassin, who he just arrested the other day. While in his custody she offers him an even better deal with more money. But first , he has to fake her death, getting him clean with the boss, and then he must get out of the mob gig before he gets caught. Things are getting tougher with each passing moment.The whole thing doesn't come together very well. Romeo is Bleeding would have been better with the less is more approach. Some details like Jack's involvement with three different women, and the stiff necked feds (who only appear twice) prove fairly useless to the story. Their screen time may have been a bit more worth while, if anyone bothered to act well. The only good performance is Roy Scheider. This guy has never done a bad movie, and his one talky scene is actually a pretty good one, certainly the best in the film. Him aside, there are two kinds of performances in Romeo is Bleeding; there are the lazy ones, and there are the hammy ones. Gary Oldman is a case of the former. This is not the kind of person we end up caring for. The ending, which is supposed to earn our sympathy instead earns our impatience. It has an overwritten melodramatic monologue which drags on way too long. Romeo is Bleeding delivers the classic 'noir' first person narration. If it had done a better job of explaining the story as it unfolded rather than the tiny little voice in Oldman's head, I think that would have also been an improvement on the filmWhen all is said and done, Romeo is Bleeding qualifies as a swing and a miss. It is in desperate need of a rewrite, an energy boost, and some brains. I'll have to say skip this one.

Lena Olin's performance, no matter how cartoon-like, is memorable as the hit woman from hell. The movie itself is vicious, and extremely disjointed. For example, how did Roy Scheider suddenly and without explanation wind up in the trunk of Lena Olin's car? Another problem is Lena's miraculous recovery from severing her arm. A movie should be more than the sum of it's parts, which "Romeo is Bleeding" is not. There must be a story here somewhere, but from my viewpoint, the movie makes little sense. Ultimately it is this uneven and somewhat unbelievable storyline that sucks the film down to levels that are less than acceptable. "Romeo is Bleeding" never adds up. - MERK