Bound (1996) Rated R Starring: Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, and Joe Pantoliano Rating: out of

Violet feels something is missing from her life with a mobster and is immediately attracted to the mega-butch Corky. She tries -- in a not so shrouded way -- to lure Corky to her apartment and seduce her. Her plot works and the two become lovers and seem to be soulmates. Violet, seeing that life with Caesar doesn't seem to fulfill her the way that her time with Corky does, sees an opportunity for the two of them to escape their crime-influenced lifestyles.

It seems that Shelley, a frequent client of Violet's, has embezzeled a large sum of money from the Mafia. Caesar is charged with literally cleaning his blood off the money when it is recovered. Knowing that over $2,000,000 will be in the apartment, Violet and Corky plan to steal it with an intricate plot that will allow them to escape cleanly -- if they can pull it off.

There's nothing really wrong with the movie in terms of plot or the techniques of the directors (The Wachowski Brothers), but somehow little things creep in and ruin an otherwise enjoyable movie. Joe Pantoliano's excruciatingly annoying Joe Pesci-like gangster performance was the most grating and obviously annoying problem with the movie. He frequently prompted laughter with lines like "Who's the dead man now, rat-face?" Gershon's lesbian mannerisms were awfully exaggerated and Tilly's voice, which normally doesn't bother me, got to be annoying as well.

However, none of these annoyances are reasons not to rent Bound. It does have a crafty plot and even crafter direction from the aforementioned Wachowski Brothers, who know when to tone down the sex and violence and turn up the plot.

Trivia: Gina Gershon can also be seen in the unfortunate Showgirls and the excellent Face/Off. (Source: The Internet Movie Database)