Romeo is Bleeding is a challenging and hilarious look at the shadow side of modern life and an intriguing film about a policeman who becomes entangled in a maelstrom of greed, deceit, murder and eroticism.Jack Grimaldi (Gary Oldman) is an experienced cop who is seconded to a special unit to combat organised crime. His task is to observe people. At the same time, Grimaldi has reached that point when life on the other side of the binoculars seems to offer that little bit extra that his life lacks; extra sex, extra money, extra excitement. This compromises Grimaldi’s loyalty. He divides his trust between law and gangsters, between his loving wife and his willing lover.Grimaldi takes what he thinks he is due. For instance he sells information about witnesses he must protect to gangsters. But then several of his colleagues are murdered when one of the witnesses is attacked by gangsters. Murderers have to kill murderers, not the police; for Grimaldi this is the last straw. He is even more aware of this when Mona Dermakov (Lena Olin) enters his life – a super-smooth trigger-happy seductress.Todd McCarthy (Variety: ‘The blood and grunge run thick on the mean streets in Romeo is Bleeding.’
