Steroids, lesbian romances, and crime make this a fun and sometimes strange ride.
Last month, Ethan Coen released “Drive-Away Dolls,” which I liked for its sense of humor and lesbianism, although most movie-goers didn’t really go for it. Probably because its writing was strange. Or it is an independent film released by Focus Features. I’m not really sure the exact reason; I’m just making some guesses.
This month, under the release of A24, we now have “Love Lies Bleeding,” which I enjoyed even more, because of its ability to look and feel like a pulp movie made for people who love all the impressive and sometimes strange elements the studio can provide. But it’s mostly the filmmakers who make those kind of choices. The studio just distributes them.
Kristen Stewart plays Lou, a gym manager in the 1980s, who meets a young body builder named Jackie (Katy O’Brien), who is passing en route for a contest in Las Vegas. If she wins, she’ll open up her own gym. Lou decides to help her out by giving her free steroids, and they help each other out with a little romance.
In the meantime, Jackie gets a job at shooting range, which, by a strange coincidence, is run by Lou’s estranged father (Ed Harris). The old man runs an illegal operation, which distributes guns into Mexico. And on the side, he even teaches Jackie how to shoot.
And what isn’t a romance without a conflict? Like how Lou finds out that Jackie had sex with her brother-in-law JJ (Dave Franco), who is abusive towards her sister Beth (Jena Malone), who won’t press charges against him. But when Beth ends up in the hospital, it’s time for Jackie to take care of some business, and for her and Lou to dispose of the body.
“Love Lies Bleeding” was co-written and directed by Rose Glass, who also made “Saint Maud” a few years ago. I liked that film, but I like this one even more. The summery I’ve written above this paragraph becomes a lot more complicated than how it’s mentioned. It deals with honest subjects regarding abusive men, the effects of steroids, and how relationships can rise and fall and maybe rise again. It all depends on how Lou and Jackie deal with these kinds of pathos.
Stewart and O’Brien both deliver with attitude, risks, and womanhood, and I would love to see these girls talk some sense into the selfish idiot women I’m going to be complaining about all year in “Madame Web.” Yes, steroids are stupid, but I’ll take these women over those early Spider-Women anytime, anywhere.
And as for the men in the movie, particularly Franco and Harris, you have to appreciate them for taking risks in their respective filmographies. They’re both likable in portraying hateful characters, and that’s acting.
In terms of bizarre elements, there’s a scene that helps ruins the body building contest and another that reminds some of us of a certain moment from “The Thief of Baghdad.” I can’t say what scene specifically for the sake of spoiler alerts; but I can definitely say “WTF,” as I’m watching them.
We cringe at the sister being in love with a man who would hurt her, but we’re also happy that he can’t touch her again. The movie doesn’t care about cliches or what a general audience would think of the realities and fantasies trying to overlap one another here. It cares about broadening the pulp genre to new limits.
I exercise the honest way, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy “Love Lies Bleeding” for its own aspect in originality. And it’s healthier, too. Read between the lines.
