← Back to Reviews
in
Fatale
The director of Black and Blue is not quite as successful with 2020's Fatale, an overheated and convoluted Fatal Attraction rip-off that produces more unintentional giggles than erotic thrills or suspense.
Derrick Tyler is a handsome sports agent in a troubled marriage who goes to a bachelor party in Las Vegas and has a one night stand with an attractive stranger. After returning to his regular life, Derrick and his wife, Tracie are awakened one night by an intruder in the house who seriously assaults Derrick. Three guesses who the police detective is assigned to Derrick's case?
Director Deon Taylor attempts to dress this one up with fancy camerawork and an attractive cast. but the problem really lies in David Lougherty's silly screenplay that shamelessly rips off not only the 1987 Glenn Close Best Picture nominee, but some of his own earlier work. We actually see Derrick and the police detective get on a big freight elevator leading to her expansive loft, just like in Fatal Attraction, just a few scenes after they're in bed in Vegas and the detective makes it clear that she is not the least bit concerned that Derrick is married. There is even a direct ripoff of the scene where Michael Douglas walks into his apartment and finds Alex there with his wife, Beth. Unfortunately, the story gets truly messy when we learn that this detective has her own agenda outside of crazy monkey sex with Derrick.
Once the detective's agenda comes to light, we have to separate stories that never really connect as they should. There is too much going on here with too many suspects and figuring out exactly what was going on, which took all the drama out of the story and brought on the aforementioned unintentional giggles. The predictability story wasn't helped by the fact that this Derrick character was dumb as a box of rocks, making it difficult to stay invested in the proceedings.
Two time Oscar winner Hillary Swank does bring some flash to the story as Detective Val Quinlan, but truthfully, she deserves better than this. Michael Ealy is easy on the eyes as Derrick, but his performance is a little overbaked, though I did enjoy Mike Colter as Derek's business partner, but this one was pretty rough going.
The director of Black and Blue is not quite as successful with 2020's Fatale, an overheated and convoluted Fatal Attraction rip-off that produces more unintentional giggles than erotic thrills or suspense.
Derrick Tyler is a handsome sports agent in a troubled marriage who goes to a bachelor party in Las Vegas and has a one night stand with an attractive stranger. After returning to his regular life, Derrick and his wife, Tracie are awakened one night by an intruder in the house who seriously assaults Derrick. Three guesses who the police detective is assigned to Derrick's case?
Director Deon Taylor attempts to dress this one up with fancy camerawork and an attractive cast. but the problem really lies in David Lougherty's silly screenplay that shamelessly rips off not only the 1987 Glenn Close Best Picture nominee, but some of his own earlier work. We actually see Derrick and the police detective get on a big freight elevator leading to her expansive loft, just like in Fatal Attraction, just a few scenes after they're in bed in Vegas and the detective makes it clear that she is not the least bit concerned that Derrick is married. There is even a direct ripoff of the scene where Michael Douglas walks into his apartment and finds Alex there with his wife, Beth. Unfortunately, the story gets truly messy when we learn that this detective has her own agenda outside of crazy monkey sex with Derrick.
Once the detective's agenda comes to light, we have to separate stories that never really connect as they should. There is too much going on here with too many suspects and figuring out exactly what was going on, which took all the drama out of the story and brought on the aforementioned unintentional giggles. The predictability story wasn't helped by the fact that this Derrick character was dumb as a box of rocks, making it difficult to stay invested in the proceedings.
Two time Oscar winner Hillary Swank does bring some flash to the story as Detective Val Quinlan, but truthfully, she deserves better than this. Michael Ealy is easy on the eyes as Derrick, but his performance is a little overbaked, though I did enjoy Mike Colter as Derek's business partner, but this one was pretty rough going.