Review of "Femme Fatale"

Laure is clearly a guy's version of a femme fatale (as evinced by lots of gratuitous nudity, stripping, and a sex-on-the-pool-table scene), and her bisexuality is also of the male-fantasy type (since although she may have sex with women, her primary romantic identification is clearly with men).

But that doesn't mean there isn't something in the movie for women, too, especially lesbian and bi women.

Laure kicks ass and takes names throughout the film without apology, and is unrepentant to the end. Laure usually uses her sexuality as a tool for manipulation rather than an expression of passion, but the choices she makes throughout the film are clearly her own, and this is what prevents Femme Fatale from being purely male-fantasy fluff. A feminist icon she isn't, but Laure's no puppet for the patriarchy, either.

The sex scene between Laure and Veronica is also one of the most realistic (ignoring the jewel-heist context) and sexy lesbian sex scenes in a mainstream movie.

Rebecca Romjin-Stamos is perfectly cast as Laure/Lilly, an inspired choice for the lead role: a familiar face that seems new at the same time. She demonstrates her versatility as an actress by changing personas as easily as her shape-shifting character Mystique in X-Men, morphing from a bisexual jewel thief to a grieving widow to a cold-blooded killer and back again.

While many have criticized the film's storyline as implausible and lacking credibility, the truth is that this doesn't really matter: the characters are engaging and attractive and there's lots of action and sex, which means the plot only has to be minimally believable to make the film at least worth watching.

Femme Fatale delivers exactly what you'd expect: an enjoyable romp through male fantasy-land offset by a subversive feminist undercurrent and a shout-out to lesbian and bisexual viewers.

That puts the film squarely in the "fun, sexy trash" category for me.

Femme Fatale is available on DVD