Romeo Is Bleeding

Infobox Film
name = Romeo Is Bleeding

---

caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Peter Medak
producer = Hilary Henkin
Paul Webster
writer = Hilary Henkin
narrator =
starring = Gary Oldman
Lena Olin
Annabella Sciorra
and Juliette Lewis
and Roy Scheider
music = Mark Isham
Gary Alper
cinematography = Dariusz Wolski
editing = Walter Murch
distributor = Gramercy Pictures
released = 1994
runtime = 100 min.
country = U.K. / U.S.A.
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:131130
imdb_id = 0107983

"Romeo Is Bleeding" is a 1993 darkly comic police story starring Gary Oldman and Lena Olin. The film's title was taken from a Tom Waits song. Oldman plays a bad cop on the take whose actions finally catch up with him. Olin is Mona, a murderous Russian hit woman. The film has gained a cult following since its initial failure at the box office. [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/131130/Romeo-Is-Bleeding/dvd/22907 Romeo Is Bleeding - Romeo is Bleeding - The New York Times ] ]

Plot

Jack is a dirty cop who does favors for the mob for a large fees. He has a loving wife, Natalie, and an adoring mistress, Sheri. He thinks he has it all, until both the cops and mob are outwitted by a vicious Russian mob assassin named Mona Demarkov.

The head of the Italian mob, Don Falcone orders the cop to deal with Demarkov or face dire consequences. Jack is unable to kill Demarkov. Soon Falcone becomes disappointed in Jack's ineptness and orders one of Jack's toes removed. Seriously injured due to the amputation and realizing that he has endangered his wife and mistress, Jack instructs his wife to leave the city immediately, giving her money and instructions where to meet him out West when the time is right. Jack also ends his affair with his mistress and puts her on a train out of the city. Jack tries to hunt Demarkov but soon realizes that he is putty in her hands. Although Jack is attracted to her sexually and no match for her professionally. Demarkov tricks Jack into killing his mistress and then forces him to kill Don Falcone, even after losing the use of her arm and having it replaced with a prosthetic. In the end, Demarkov turns Jack into the police, his former associates, and cops a plea deal that will indicate Jack for the numerous murders that she tricked Jack into doing. The police apparently arrange a final confrontation for Jack and Demarkov courthouse, as he is heading in and she is heading out. Before she leaves, she threatens to kill both Jack and his wife. Thinking he has nothing to lose, and desperate to save the only thing good in his life, Jack grabs a gun from the ankle holster of one of his fellow officers and shoots her dead. Jack turns the gun on himself, only to discover that the revolver is empty. Instead of being sent to prison for the murder, he is given a commendation. This frees Jack to begin his new life in a small, remote town. He waits at the appointed time and place for Natalie to return to him, but her forgiveness is only in his mind.

Reception

Despite praise for the performances by Oldman and Olin, the film itself generally received unfavourable reviews from critics [ [http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/romeo_is_bleeding/ Romeo Is Bleeding Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes ] ] and was a box office failure, grossing only $3.6 million worldwide [ [http://www.the-numbers.com/people/GOLDM.php Gary Oldman - Box Office Data Movie Star ] ] despite its $10 million budget. [ [http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1994/0RIBL.php Romeo Is Bleeding - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information - The Numbers ] ] Bon Jovi recorded the song "Always" for the film but later withheld the song after the band was given a preview screening and was not satisfied with it. [100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't be Wrong DVD] Despite this, the film has since gained a cult following.

Cast

*Gary Oldman as Jack Grimaldi
*Lena Olin as Mona Demarkov
*Annabella Sciorra as Natalie Grimaldi
*Juliette Lewis as Sheri
*Roy Scheider as Don Falcone
*David Proval as Scully
*Will Patton as Martie

Footnotes

External links

*imdb title|id=0107983|title=Romeo Is Bleeding
*amg title|id=1:131130|title=Romeo Is Bleeding