Nestled securely in the heart of the tumultuos 1990s is a film written by Hilary Henkin, the journeyman screenwriter responsible for working on some of Hollywood’s most ambitious productions, and directed by Peter Medak, the creative mind behind films like The Ruling Class and The Changeling, films that were not thoroughly appreciated at the time but have gone on to gain cult followings (the former containing the finest performance ever delivered by Peter O’Toole) – their collaboration yielding results in the form of Romeo Is Bleeding, a darkly comical and wonderfully strange neo-noir that takes us on an unpredictable journey into the depths of the human mind, being a bizarre but captivating crime thriller that utilizes both complex character-based moments and an abundance of violence to tell the story of a two-faced police officer and the malicious game of cat-and-mouse he ends up playing with a psychopathic assassin, the general premise being that one has to kill the other while they have the chance, or face consequences far greater than anything either of them have ever experienced. The plot interweaves themes around the corruption of the police force, the dominance of organized crime and the lacklustre infrastructure that afflicts even the biggest cities in the world, all of which are complex ideas that somehow seem effortlessly pedestrian when filtered through this film, which is far more enduring as a piece of mindless entertainment than almost any other film produced at the time, which is one of the benefits of acknowledging the inherent folly and lack of rational thought that comes with telling a story of this nature and executing it in such a distinctly strange but captivating way.

The question that surrounds Romeo Is Bleeding isn’t whether this is a good film or a bad one – in fact, most would categorize this as being a work that delivers exactly what it says it will, leaving nothing behind, but also not adding anything particularly noteworthy. Far too many crime thrillers produced around this period aimed to be more intelligent, subversive and original than any that had come before, and the result was dozens of marginally entertaining films that were ruined by their inflated sense of ego, which the audience is far more cynical to accept than mediocre storytelling or poor filmmaking. However, even if it is hitting all the conventional beats, Romeo Is Bleeding is not a film that necessarily needed to be all that unique to register with viewers, since it is not afraid to just surrender to the madness that inspired its creation. Realism is not a factor in the construction of this film, and while it does seem to be aiming to at least appear to be a serious, sobering crime drama, it doesn’t take long for the viewer to realize it is far more worthwhile to just appreciate the sheer hysteria that inspired this film, as well as propelling it to be one of the more wildly entertaining entries into the genre. This is not a film that is inclined to take itself seriously, and it instead manages to embrace its peculiarities, which certainly are a result of being directed by someone who was not only well-versed in genre filmmaking (having worked on everything from the most eccentric comedies to the darkest horrors) but also able to find the inner complexities in the more absurd aspects of a story such as it. It remains to be seen if much of the humour and absurdity that we find throughout Romeo Is Bleeding was intentional or accidental, but regardless of where we may fall on the film individually, it’s difficult to deny its unconventional brilliance, even when it isn’t as polished it perhaps should have been – but this rawness is all part of its unorthodox charm.

Romeo Is Bleeding is a film that centres itself on the two main performances, with the leads engaging in what can best be described as a Fred-and-Ginger-inspired collaboration, with the caveat being that instead of traditional dance, they’re engaged in two hours of psychological and physical combat, perfectly choreographed on both the visual and thematic level. Gary Oldman was at the stage in his career where his ability to draw on the chameleonic talents that allowed him to disappear into any role he was given made him one of the most highly-demanded actors of the period – and considering he was often cast to play eccentric villains, it’s not surprising that he took the opportunity to not only take the lead in what appeared to be a very compelling film but also one that allowed him to play into a more complex set of characteristics, rather than just being a one-dimensional antagonist, even if it was something for which he had a remarkable talent. Instead, the over-the-top villain in Romeo Is Bleeding is portrayed by Lena Olin, who is playing against type, choosing to go all the way in creating a very strange but captivating adversary for our main character, using both her charm and physical prowess to construct this villainous individual whose entire purpose in this film is to represent every insecurity and fear that the protagonist himself carries with him. If anything, this film shows us a very different dynamic, where the female lead in a film noir is not a victim or damsel in distress, and her evil is not restricted to sinister actions transpiring out of view, but rather in direct combat of the hero, who finds himself actively struggling to keep up with someone who doesn’t only match him in his skill and stamina, but outperforms him by a considerable margin, leading to a very unique dynamic between two actors that commit fully to this strange but worthwhile crime thriller.

Throughout this film, Medak is drawing on a few different genres, which he effortlessly weaves into the narrative in surprisingly complex ways. Romeo Is Bleeding is primarily inspired by film noir – the character Oldman plays is a very traditional example of an anti-hero who is constructed from fragments of immorality and psychological instability, which leads to erratic actions and even more peculiar developments in his arc, while Olin is the femme fatale, in quite literal terms, playing a truly dangerous individual that seems to be the only person that can match Oldman’s crooked detective on his level and come close to defeating him. It may not be as well-composed as traditional film noir, but it comes at a time when many directors were experimenting with the genre, giving rise to the neo-noir movement, where traditional aspects of the genre were combined with more modern aspects, such as unconventional narrative details or character-based traits that would not have been easily found in the films of yesteryear, where even the most insidious of anti-heroes always needed to learn their lesson by the end. Even stylistically, the film draws on the genre and develops it into something quite intriguing, with the blend of bleak, gritty realism in the design and look of the film, and the sometimes excessive fight sequences (such as a particularly memorable moment where Olin escapes by strangling Oldman with her legs after being handcuffed and wriggling her way out of the crashed car by breaking the windshield – one of the many unforgettable scenes that once again prove that this is not a film interested in taking itself all that seriously), which all amount to a very strange but oddly endearing crime thriller that is built from the desire to entertain more than anything else, which is as admirable an intention as any, and one of the reasons it is difficult to dismiss this film based on its shortcomings.

When we consider crime dramas and action films from this era, Romeo Is Bleeding is rarely discussed, despite not being a bad film in any conceivable way. Instead, what we see is a case of a film that simply could not be classified or defined in any way, and instead exists as a series of peculiar moments that may not be ahead of their time (such an assessment is far too generous since this is not a film that always comes across as being intentionally deviant from the status quo), but still feel genuinely quite remarkable, even if only as experimental attempts to challenge form and convention in a manner that acknowledged the risk, but still chose to pursue it, knowing that doing so may result in less-than-ideal results, but would at least be memorable, even if unintentionally. Romeo Is Bleeding is a tremendously entertaining film, two hours of rapid-fire action told by someone who may not be considered a master of this specific genre, but rather one who has effectively taken on the status as being a jack-of-all-trades, a director who is versatile enough to take on films with bold ideas and execute them well enough to justify their existence, which is already half of the work done when it comes to what appears to be a relatively conventional crime thriller infused with shades of narrative and visual complexity. It is difficult to know if the final result of Romeo Is Bleeding was what the writer intended the film to be, since a lot of the film feels like it was made up on the spot (not a criticism, but rather a keen observation based on the freeform style the story seems to employ), but it is certainly true that it is very original and highly entertaining, which is more than enough for a film of this quality.