"Romeo is Bleeding" is an even darker comedy, a bloodfest about a womanizing cop (Gary Oldman) who gets his comeuppance from a hit woman (Lena Olin) who seduces him, attempts to kill him and ultimately frames him for murder.
What makes it watchable, however, is Olin's unpredictable and mesmerizing performance as the hit woman, which is over the top and utterly irresistible.
The story has Oldman as the epitome of the corrupt homicide detective, on the take from the mob (led by Roy Scheider!) as he sets up government witnesses to be killed.
But when Olin is hired to take out such a witness, she also kills the FBI agents on the scene. Oldman begins to feel guilty and decides to get out, but Scheider isn't about to let him go. In fact, Scheider decides Olin is too hot and orders Oldman to kill her!
Meanwhile, Oldman also has trouble with his loyal but unhappy wife (Annabella Sciorra) and his ditsy girlfriend (Juliette Lewis).
There is one unforgettable sequence in "Romeo Is Bleeding," a brawl between Oldman and Olin that sort of sums up the movie's excesses. He punches her out, shoots her in the arm, handcuffs her behind her back and throws her in the back seat of his car. She wakes up, wraps her legs around his neck and strangles him until he crashes the car into a utility pole. Then, while he's unconscious — and she's still handcuffed — Olin climbs over the seat, kicks out the windshield, wriggles her way out of the car and runs away.
It's dark, it's violent, it's shocking. And in terms of sheer in-your-face entertainment, "Romeo Is Bleeding" is definitely in guilty pleasure territory.
But it's also extremely uneven, not nearly as cohesive as director Peter Medak's other pictures "The Krays" and "Let Him Have It." Despite its flaws, including some silly fantasy sequences and an ending that doesn't work, Medak and first-time screenwriter/producer Hilary Henkin have created a distinctive, if occasionally unpleasant, entry in the film noir sweepstakes.
But it is Lena Olin's unstoppable, full-throttle performance that brings it to life.
"Romeo Is Bleeding" is rated R for considerable violence, profanity, sex, nudity and vulgarity.