Movie Review

Deep Crimson (1996)

Details Rated: Unrated; Genres: Drama, Foreign Language, Mystery and Thriller

Though the title makes this movie sound like a Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster, it is anything but. Instead, Mexican director Arturo Ripstein has crafted a compassionate, bitingly funny retelling of the Lonely Hearts murders, the late-'40s crime spree that also inspired 1969's cult classic The Honeymoon Killers. In this version, a love-starved nurse falls for a toupeed con man who seduces and robs dispirited women like her. She tracks him down, however — and devotes herself to him and his work. The flawless performances transform this thriller into a bloody valentine — and the small screen renders the intensity so intimate that you become an implicit accomplice.

Originally posted Sep 10, 1999 Published in issue #502 Sep 10, 1999 Order article reprints

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