Review of Bleeder (1999) by Simon P — 26 Jul 2010
Hot on the heels of his Pusher movie, NWR once again assembles his favourite cast in this less-than-electric tale of violence and self-loathing. Bleeder's tone-free drama fails to ignite the screen (despite some grim blood-letting) while its comedy edge is derailed by a violent second act.
Mads Mikkelson, so powerful and moving in Valhalla Rising and the Pusher trilogy, is wasted here as the hapless movie-mad video store clerk while Bodnia (also riveting in Pusher 1) mopes about in such a way as to make his eventual breakdown seem unrealistic.
Bleak, but without the hard edge of his former film, Bleeder is the first of NWR's superb career that didn't affect me emotionally n the least. Not the first film to fail at blending comedy and tragedy by any means; just not what I was expecting from one of my fave directors.
Mediocre.
This review of Bleeder (1999) was written by Simon P on 26 Jul 2010.
Bleeder has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
