Rotten Tomatoes Logo Do you want to see ‘Romeo Is Bleeding’?

Romeo Is Bleeding (1994)

tomatometer

0

Average Rating: 3.8/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 0 | Rotten: 10

No consensus yet.

audience

61

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 7,203

My Rating

Movie Info

New York cop Jack Grimaldi (Gary Oldman) has a nice home, a stunning wife Natalie (Annabella Sciorra), and a sweet, if stupid mistress, Sheri (Juliette Lewis). Jack also earns extra money by betraying mob witnesses to Mafia-boss Don Falcone (Roy Scheider). Assigned to guard the viciously sexy Russian-born hit woman, Mona Demarkov (Lena Olin), Jack is almost instantly seduced and allows Mona to escape. Falcone orders Jack to find and kill Mona, and threatens to murder him if he fails. Mona offers

Mar 19, 2002

MGM Home Entertainment

Cast

All Critics (35) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (27) | DVD (4)

The far-fetched plotting eventually goes so far over the top that pic flirts with inventing a new genre of film noir camp.

April 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It would be facile to say it substitutes style for content; actually, it substitutes stylishness for style.

April 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Stylistic but ultimately unsatisfying.

April 9, 2008 Comment
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic IconTop Critic

For all its promise, and for all the brittle beauty of Dariusz Wolski's cinematography, Romeo Is Bleeding eventually collapses under the weight of its violent affectations.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Romeo is most notable for being the first film of the year to cash in on post-Bobbitt fears of castrating (and worse) females.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Basically, there's nothing new or revolutionary about Mona.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's a senseless, tasteless and demented postmodern noir that has about as much class as a gimpy $10 Times Square hooker.

May 11, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

This is a battle-of-the-sexes movie played out at such a pitch of pervsity and amorality that it ultimately becomes rather laughable.

April 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

[It's] never content with one cliche when it can shovel on ten.

April 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Empire Magazine

The cast tries to make up for the script's hollowness by hurling themselves headlong into the sort of bloody, sweating, spittle-spewing performances that can sometimes turn thin material into personal triumphs, but to little avail.

April 9, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

An underrated gem. Gary Oldman is amazing.

February 21, 2008 Comment
ColeSmithey.com

Film noir at its worst and most excessive, an exercise in style, marred by ridicuolous voiceover narration and incomprehensible plot points; Lena Olin gives a sexy over the top performance.

January 31, 2007 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

Hilary Henkin's script isn't as smart as it thinks it is, and only Olin's breathtakingly excessive femme fatale hits the right note of campy panache.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Perversely fascinating. Solid direction from Peter Medak.

August 18, 2004 Comment
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Offbeat noir buoyed mostly by its offbeat actors

June 19, 2003 Comment
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Cynicism, greed and wonderfully florid dialogue radiate throughout every scene in director Peter Medak's quirky and constantly inventive new film noir.

May 20, 2003 Comment
Palo Alto Weekly

Olin is one of the most vile female protagonists to ever walk out on a screen. Made little chinchillas run up and down my spine.

April 22, 2003 Comment
Needcoffee.com
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Romeo Is Bleeding

films like this give noir a bad name. oldman's voiceover is irritating, the script is all over the place and the final result is more sleazy than stylish. almost quit on it a couple times but it kept promising to get better...then went completely off the deep end. the only thing worth watching here is lena olin's

November 17, 2009
rubystevens
Stella Dallas

Super Reviewer

Good film but it feels really dated even though it?s not that old!

September 24, 2009
SirPant

Super Reviewer

    1. Jack Grimaldi: I try to stop thinking. Try to get my head straight. If I could just get my head straight, then everything would be all right.
    – Submitted by Lea L (8 months ago)
    1. Jack Grimaldi: People think that Hell is fire and brimstone and the Devil poking you in the butt with a pitchfork, but it's not. Hell is when you should have walked away, but you didn't.
    – Submitted by Lea L (8 months ago)
    1. Jack Grimaldi: Maybe it was just his imagination, but whenever he'd pull up that plate, he'd hear a sucking sound. It started out small, with the first 65 grand. And then it got bigger. Pretty soon it was the only thing he heard. Pretty soon, all he could think about was feeding the hole. He didn't think about when he was a kid. He didn't think about the guys who he started who were still on the up-and-up. He didn't think about the dreams he had with Natalie. He didn't think about those Feds lying there. Most of all, he didn't think about Mona Demarkov, because the way he saw it, she was done. Just another 65 grand for the hole. He fed the hole and he made the hole happy. It was the only thing he knew how to make happy.
    – Submitted by Lea L (8 months ago)
    1. Jack Grimaldi: You ever seen a ghost? There's this guy. Comes in here. Every May 1st. Every May 1st, every December 1st. Like clock work. What's he want? Well, frankly, I ain't exactly sure. He had the strangest story to tell. He left this here and I keep it for him. How do I know he'll be back? What's that? A woman was involved? Hm, just fits. I was married once myself. Beautiful girl. By the way my name is Jim Daurighty. I run this place. His name? Sure. His name is Jack Grimaldi. Hey, there he is now!
    – Submitted by Lea L (8 months ago)
    1. Jack Grimaldi: [hallucinating Natalie entering through the door, and narrating with great sadness and tears in his voice] Sometimes she stays a little longer. But not too often.
    – Submitted by Lea L (8 months ago)

Latest News for Romeo Is Bleeding

What's Hot On RT

Critics Consensus
Critics Consensus

Journey 2 Not Worth the Trip

Luis Guzman
Luis Guzman

What are his 10 best movies ever?

<em>Amazing Spider-Man</em>
Amazing Spider-Man

See the all-new action-packed trailer!

The Avengers!
The Avengers!

Five new Marvelous pictures

Top Movie Quizzes

LEGO Mania: 2011 Best Picture Nominees
by natalie - 18,554 taken
created 12 months ago
How Much Do You Know About Leonardo DiCaprio?
by natalie - 44,408 taken
created 15 months ago
Pixar Movies!
by jdikwlzviv - 27,138 taken
created 15 months ago
The Wizards of Harry Potter
by jdikwlzviv - 27,641 taken
created 15 months ago
Help | About | Jobs | Newsletter | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Blog | Developers | Mobile