Fatale | Film Review

 

I watched this late one Friday night just after this came out. It sounded like a lot of movies I've seen before, but I still wanted to see if it would be offering anything new.

When married sports agent Derrick (Michael Ealy) has a one-night stand with Valerie (Hilary Swank), he soon finds that his life has been turned upside down.

I kept the description vague so as not to spoil anything, but to be honest this story isn't that different to the 100 other movies with similar plots. Yes, there are more unique plot twists, but ultimately it's the same story.

I found that the film didn't spend enough time with Derrick's wife, Tracie (Damaris Lewis). We never really know her, so it's harder to sympathise with her.

And in a similar vein, there are many times when the film puts emphasis on the wrong things. Either it shows too much of Derrick's business and not enough of his relationship(s), or it sets things up that then aren't mentioned again.

The pacing wasn't great. It rushed through the beginning so that within 5 minutes, we were in the middle of the story. I feel like I needed more time with all of the characters to really get into the story.

So many unrealistic, crazy things happen that there are parts of the film that feel like a fever dream. The characters don't seem real, and nothing about it seems plausible. And there are times when there is almost too much happening.

But the thing that I disliked the most about it was that the 'affair' that the film is built on is the least important part of the film. Barely anything would have changed if it never happened.

And then there's the ending, which was fine if not predictable. A bit weaker than the rest of the film, but not awful.

Overall, as you can tell, I didn't love the film. I appreciate the bits of originality, and I actually don't think it was horrible. But as it was predictable, unrealistic and didn't really offer anything new, I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have.

4.5/10