Love Lies Bleeding (2008)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This awkward piece of celluloid garbage was allowed to escape the cutting room floor. The directors, producers, production company could have done so much better. The actors should have been shot on the spot. This is not the level of incompetence we want to release to the public. I have seen better on a county college film school. Not to be nasty, but you have to get nasty to the people who release this type of manure. High in nitrates, carries across three fields, able to induce DiarrhEEEAR !!get a video camera, invite your friends over, and drink some beer; you can do a better job yourselves.

We always choose an Indie film over a studio-produced one any day of the week. That being said, we had no clue as to what to expect with this story about a young couple that are involved in robbing what appears to be "dirty money" from a gang of Latinos in a suburb of L.A. This film reminded us of movies of the genre that have been better made. It calls to our mind "True Romance", and others with stronger story lines, something this film could have used.As a point of reference, this title has been used so many times before, we thought it might have been a remake of any of the other films, notably, the one from 1999 with Malcolm McDowell and Faye Dunaway in it.Directed by Keith Samples, a man with a lot of experience in television, the movie is based on a weak screenplay by Brian Strasman. The story line doesn't make much sense, but one likes to go along to see where the plot takes us. It is hard to imagine that Duke, the young man in love with Amber, will get involved in trying to outsmart people that want them dead because, stupidly, they have robbed a team of bad cops; little do they know that money was earmarked to trap the gang members in the first place. Thus begin a chase throughout the Western states because Pollen, the sadistic policeman, will not give up and wants to trap the pair and make they pay for the humiliation of being outwitted by an amateur duet.Christian Slater plays another creepy character without good results. Brian Geraghty and Jenna Dewan appear as the lovers that see the opportunity to start a new life far from their own backyard.

When ex-con Geraghty comes home one day to find his home ransacked (again) and his girl (Dewan) roughed up by gang bangers, he's had enough. When he decides to take matters into his own hands, he shows up at the scene of a shootout over a bag of money left lying on the floor. After grabbing the money and running. He figures a safe distance away and starts to settle down, only to find bad guy psychotic Slater on his trail.The genre categories on this film are stated as action, drama, and thrills. As for action, very little; drama, more than what should be in any action film; and thrills? Well, no thrills here, especially for someone who doesn't, ordinarily, like movies like this.As for some of the leads, Geraghty didn't pull off his character, at least I didn't believe him and when did Dewan grow up? In two years, she's gone from high school ballet student in "Step Up" to high school teacher (?!?!?!) in "Fab 5: The Texas Cheerleader Story" and this one, where she's just a kid again starting out on life's journey. Slater was always a favorite of mine, but I just could not believe that he's happy with this performance. Whoever taught him who act as a psycho on the edge should give him a refund (or at least change for that dime he charged Slater for the acting lessons).Overall, the premise was good, but the acting was not. Three bad acting jobs takes three stars away from what WAS a good story line. 7 out of 10 stars.

Christian Slater released two films at approximately the same time, "He Was a Quiet Man", and this particular piece. "Love Lies Bleeding" is a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, but imagine Clyde as a miserably ignorant, somewhat philosophical "nice guy".A young couple, Duke and Amber are living together on the wrong side of the tracks, dealing with poverty, crime, and general economic misfortune until coming upon a bag of money belonging to their drug-dealing neighbors. Also sought after by dirty cop Pollen, they go on the run to escape their depressing lives and find their dream life of a house with a yard and 2.5 children...etc...Jenna Dewan is really developing quality acting skills, especially opposing Christian Slater's frightening "dirty cop" routine. Christian Slater once again shows his talents and versatility (very obvious if going between this film and "He Was a Quiet Man). This was a fantastic role for him. Brian Geraghty was slightly over-done, but it suited the role (Iraq war-vet that didn't come home quite right).Overall, this film was chock-full of stereotypes and stayed rather cookie-cutter and predictable throughout. However, it was entertaining, and kept you going right until the end. Hence my rating of 8/10. It's not perfect by any means, but if you're not looking for substance, it's just a good entertaining film.