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Bound
Gramercy Pictures


8.6

based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 3 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: R for strong sexuality, violence and language

Starring Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, John P. Ryan, Christopher Meloni, Richard C. Sarafian, Mary Mara, and Susie Bright

A provocative and passionate thriller from the creators of the Matrix series.

GENRE(S):	Crime \| Romance \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Andy Wachowski Larry Wachowski
DIRECTED BY:	Andy Wachowski Larry Wachowski
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 19, 2001 Video: October 17, 1997 Theatrical: October 4, 1996
RUNNING TIME:	108 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Outstanding Film, 1997 GLAAD Media Awards

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

It's a complex, satisfying piece of entertainment, a succession of unexpected, outrageous scenes.

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It's pure cinema, spread over several genres. It's a caper movie, a gangster movie, a sex movie and a slapstick comedy.

Dallas Observer Jimmy Fowler

The writing-directing team of brothers Larry and Andi Wachowski has chosen as its filmmaking debut a tightly constructed, stylishly (but rarely self-consciously) executed, gripping little noir parable that couldn't be more firmly grounded in American movie tradition if the filmmakers created a wacky romantic farce about mismatched paramours.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

From the first scene, however, it's obvious that the writing/directing team of Andy and Larry Wachowski are aiming for something considerably higher than rudimentary titillation. And, by taking chances and twisting conventions, they have hit paydirt.

TV Guide Staff(not credited)

The result is flashy -- first-time directors Larry and Andy Wachowski never miss an opportunity to show us red, red drops of blood against brilliant white -- but pretty good fun, especially if the thought of Tilly in a succession of thigh-high bandage dresses makes you sweat.

USA Today Mike Clark

Some caper movies build suspense, while others tweak the genre with tongue lancing cheek. But this lesbian caper pic (how's that for a rarefied subgenre?) often pulls off both feats in the same scene, even simultaneously. [04 Oct 1996 Pg.04.D]

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The true pleasures of Bound lie in the Wachowskis' inventive updated take on film noir traditions, sensuously realized by cinematographer Bill Pope ("Clueless").

Empire Kim Newman

Lovingly designed in black and white, and played with a nice sense of irony, this offers the not unappealing spectacle of gorgeous, funny, clever women making fools of hard-boiled Mafia guys.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

In short, Bound is admittedly derivative, but it's such an amusing low-down entertainment it really doesn't matter.

San Francisco Examiner Barry Walters

The Wachowski brothers are to be applauded for a film that is also nearly as stylishly funny as it is sexy and fast-paced.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Bound, a diabolically clever caper, isn't nearly so deep as the genre it kids.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

This gets very suspenseful (as well as fairly gruesome) in spots, and if it never adds up to anything profound, it's still a welcome change to have a lesbian couple as the chief identification figures.

Time Richard Schickel

The Wachowskis have the predilection for loopy camera setups common to first-time directors, but their hearts are in the right transgressive place, and their film will tide some of us over until Quentin gets...well...unbound.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

What's more, they toss a few original twists into a familiar generic set-up and thereby create a thoroughly entertaining and stylish thriller.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

The film is shot by Bill Pope with such enterprising flair that it never looks claustrophobic, but the action inevitably stalls in such close quarters.

Washington Post Bruce Walker

Like so many other rob-the-mob movies, the plan seems pretty far-fetched, and the ending isn't much of a surprise. But if you like your films sprinkled liberally with sex, violence and humor, then you're bound to like Bound.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Larry and Andy Wachowski directed this lurid, sexually explicit thriller.

LA Weekly Staff(not credited)

While the women go through a few of the motions, shifting decorously under the sheets and sucking face, there's no lust in their coupling, just choreography and the conceit of two filmmakers with nothing more on their minds than fake dykes and bloodshed.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Debuting writer-directors Larry and Andy Wachowski come off like Coen brothers wannabes with no sense of humor.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

M. K. Davalt gave it an8:
Very good film. Plenty of tension, in both plot and relationships. The camerawork is sometimes distracting, but overall, fun to watch. The two women who star make us care about them, and the success of their enterprise.

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Bound Gramercy Pictures

Bound
Gramercy Pictures