Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's a shame that when most people talk about the Wachowski's masterful debut these days, it's in reference to the impressively graphic lesbian sex scene, which only lasts about 2 minutes of the actual screen time.That is too bad because Bound is not only a sincerely effective lesbian romance tale, but it's also a great Hitchcockian thrill-ride that benefits from great performances (Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon and Joe Pantoliano).Even though their next film (The Matrix) would help the siblings explode onto the pop culture landscape and started them on the path towards making large budget special effects spectacles; this small but meticulously-crafted neo-noir exploration of characters who each feel trapped within their own lives exceeds them all in terms of story-telling and emotional resonance.Check it out!

The film noir is a genre widely associated with the 1940s and 1950s. Occasional movies since then have dabbled in the genre (such as Oliver Stone's "U Turn"), but "Bound" is probably the most interesting. Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly play lesbians who scheme to obtain a bunch of money from Tilly's character's mafia husband (Joe Pantoliano). But things don't quite go as planned, leading to some of the tensest moments ever put on screen.The Wachowski sisters (brothers at the time, as they hadn't yet transitioned) say that the movie is about "the boxes people make of their lives", that it is not only gay people who "live in closets". Most of the movie takes place in closed spaces, while Tilly's character is trapped in her marriage.Whatever the case, it's an impressive piece of work. The Wachowskis continued their fine output with "The Matrix" and "Cloud Atlas" (while producing "V for Vendetta"). In the meantime, "Bound" constituted part of the shift in cinema's depictions of LGBT people. I recommend it.

‪A technically impressive directorial debut from The Wachowskis, with some interesting plot turns. The chemistry between Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon is great and their determined and clever female main characters are still quite fresh 21 years later.‬Twitter: @7thArtShortRevs (Mårten Larsson).

Bound is Wachowski's first film as writer/directors and put them in the map that led to the Matrix films.There is very little original about it. A non pastiche Coen Brother's modern film noir with Tarantino dollops of violence.Ex-con plumber Corky (Gina Gershon) moves in next door to gangster moll Violet's (Jennifer Tilly) apartment to redecorate and both become attracted to each other. It is one of the few mainstream films that actually offers a better portrayal of lesbian sex.Violet's gangster boyfriend Caesar (Joe Pantoliano) launders money for the mafia. The two women plot to steal $2 million from Caesar and frame him, so his bosses think he stole it. We already see the mafia's boss son sadistically torture one schmuck.The plan seems to be going fine but Ceasar does not run when he sees that the money is missing and starts to work things out leading to mayhem for the two women.There is nothing new in the plot and I found Tilly's acting rather off, her voice sounds like it has had a dose of helium.What the Wachowski's get right is to make a mean and tight thriller on a low budget making the best use of cinematography and art direction at their disposal.