"Fatale" (2020 release; 102 min.) brings the story of Derrick, a married and successful sports agent in LA. As the movie opens, Derrick and his buddies are heading to a bachelor's party in Vegas, where Derrick meets Val, an LA investigative cop, and wouldn't you know, they end up in bed. When he returns to LA, the next night the house is robbed. The LA cops come out to investigate, led by Detective Quinlan, who turns out to be... Val. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest film from director Deon Taylor, whose previous film, 2019's "Black and Blue", was a gritty and intense police drama. It was hence all the more surprisng when I saw "Fatale" (as in: femme fatale), which is a complete dud. At first it starts out as a possible "Fatal Attraction" type movie, but then it morphs into a "whodunnit" and then it morphs yet again. So many plot twists! And with each new one, it becomes less credible, until we reach the "utterly implausible" stage and this film has officially jumped the shark. Even that might be forgivable, if it wasn't that the film is outright boring on top of that. At no time was there any tension or was I emotionally invested in anyone of these characters. Hilary Swank as Val tries the best she can with the weak material she is given. Michael Ealy as Derrick is just awful, I'm sorry to say. That's called acting?!? Last but not least the movie is about 10-15 min. too long for its own good and certain scenes could've been cut without losing any of the film's plot I wish I could be more positive about this film, and given the quality of "Black and Blue". "Fatale" turns out to be a major disappointment for me.
"Fatale" was supposed to open this summer, but a little thing called COVID-19 had other plans. The film finally opened the weekend before Christmas. The early Sunday evening where I saw this at was attended dismally (5 people in a large auditorium, including myself). Regardless, I cannot in good conscience recommend this movie to anyone, but of course don't take my word for it and check it out for yourself, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.
Couple of comments: this is the latest film from director Deon Taylor, whose previous film, 2019's "Black and Blue", was a gritty and intense police drama. It was hence all the more surprisng when I saw "Fatale" (as in: femme fatale), which is a complete dud. At first it starts out as a possible "Fatal Attraction" type movie, but then it morphs into a "whodunnit" and then it morphs yet again. So many plot twists! And with each new one, it becomes less credible, until we reach the "utterly implausible" stage and this film has officially jumped the shark. Even that might be forgivable, if it wasn't that the film is outright boring on top of that. At no time was there any tension or was I emotionally invested in anyone of these characters. Hilary Swank as Val tries the best she can with the weak material she is given. Michael Ealy as Derrick is just awful, I'm sorry to say. That's called acting?!? Last but not least the movie is about 10-15 min. too long for its own good and certain scenes could've been cut without losing any of the film's plot I wish I could be more positive about this film, and given the quality of "Black and Blue". "Fatale" turns out to be a major disappointment for me.
"Fatale" was supposed to open this summer, but a little thing called COVID-19 had other plans. The film finally opened the weekend before Christmas. The early Sunday evening where I saw this at was attended dismally (5 people in a large auditorium, including myself). Regardless, I cannot in good conscience recommend this movie to anyone, but of course don't take my word for it and check it out for yourself, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.