IN THEIR WORLD, YOU CAN’T BUY FREEDOM, BUT YOU CAN STEAL IT.

Ex-con Corky (Gina Gershon) starts a passionate affair with Violet (Jennifer Tilly), the girlfriend of a mobster (Joe Pantoliano); together they come up with a plan of how to steal money from him. In their directing debut, the Wachowskis came up with something that was part modern, part old-fashioned. Sure, it’s a lesbian love affair taken so seriously that the feminist writer and critic Susie Bright was brought on to consult, but it’s also an homage to 1940s film noir, with classic archetypes. Criticized for its bloody violence, but the film confidently builds tension. Tilly and Gershon are perfectly matched and Pantoliano is a delight as the psychotic gangster.

1996-U.S. 109 min. Color. Produced by Stuart Boros, Andrew Lazar. Written and directed by The Wachowskis. Cinematography: Bill Pope. Cast: Jennifer Tilly (Violet), Gina Gershon (Corky), Joe Pantoliano (Caesar), John Ryan, Christopher Meloni, Richard C. Sarafian.

Trivia: Co-executive produced by the Wachowskis. 

Last word: “My agents didn’t want me to do it. Literally, I was told, ‘You are ruining your career doing this movie. We will not let you do this movie.’ I never get to play the hero and to get the chick. I mean, it’s the typical part that I’ve watched my whole life, and it’s never been a woman. I left my agents over it.” (Gershon, Entertainment Weekly)

IMDb