This is fine, better than I had expected. Madsen is good at the start and helps get things going but it is Asia Argento that really holds this together with a most compelling performance. The direction is a bit frenetic but gradually we learn to live with the rapidity and apparent random nature of things, helped or not helped, depending on your view by pretty inconsequential storyline. With a combination of a lack of solid narrative, fast editing and Asia Argento we come to 'go with the flow' on this one and thereby enjoyment is to be had. The switch to a Hong Kong setting for the second half is entirely appropriate but still everything looks much the same and moves along just as quickly. So, in summary, you might not always know what's going on but if you've half a yen for Ms Argento and like things tough and speedy, this is for you.

A quality star can equal quite a mighty fine draw for a film, even with unpromising reviews. So it was that I picked up Boarding Gate, since it stars the great Asia Argento. Interesting cast members and a workable sounding plot, it could have been a contender. Unfortunately though, things don't really end up working out in any way here. Argento here plays a former prostitute, rekindling a steamy romance with a former lover, all the while pursuing her own dodgy dealings. Ultimately she ends up deeper than she can handle in somewhat of a muddle of deception and murder, leading to meagre near glimmers of suspense. It has some solid potential as a set up, a strong willed and highly sexual lady, bringing all her charms to bear on the task of making her own way in a world that seeks to constrain and control but finding out that things are a whole lot trickier than she first imagined, it should be sexy, thrilling and perhaps a little sad. Flickers of all these faintly pass through the film as it lazily swims to its pat conclusion but nothing ever really works. The writing is for the most part undercooked, some sexual dialogue carries a mild frisson but thats about it, for the most part characters are vapid, motivations are ill considered and plotting is a dull haze, inconsequential and lacking in interest. Direction is similar to the writing (Olivier Assayas responsible for both), that is to say weak. Acting wise only Argento stands out, mixing tough and sizzling with shades of vulnerability she does pretty well, especially in scenes with Michael Madsen as her ex lover, who comes off with some dignity by playing the same way he seems to in most of his work. They have very little chemistry so the scenes aren't hot in the way they were intended, but they are slightly interesting. Carl Ng and Kelly Lin are bland and forgettable as the other notable players in the drama, while some amusement for alt rock fans is to be found in a cameo appearance from Kim Gordon, who doesn't have much to do but is somewhat fun to see anyway. Not really much more to say about this one as its a bit tricky to get too much into without spoilers and not much of note happens anyway, for me it was mostly a bit of a dog, suspense free and boring though pleasant enough to look at. I've seen a lot worse, but for being overwhelmingly underwhelming, 3/10.

"Boarding Gate" is an initially verbose French crime drama that, for the first half at least, threatens to talk itself and us to a standstill. Luckily, at about the midway point, the pacing picks up considerably and it turns into a stylish, gripping thriller.The film chronicles the stormy relationship between an unscrupulous businessman and the ex-mistress he routinely pimps out to his clients. However, it's only after she's lured into committing murder and forced to go on the lam to Hong Kong that the movie becomes an intriguing, multi-layered look at infidelity and betrayal.Italian actress Asia Argento, who's a dead-ringer for Uma Thurman, commands the screen with her pouting eroticism and natural charisma, and she gets strong support from Michael Madsen and Carl Ng as the two main men in her life, as well as from Kelly Lin as a romantic rival who reluctantly helps Argento out in the end. The direction by Olivier Assayas - in the second half at least - is crisp, focused and exciting, and the visuals alone are enough to compensate for some of the gaping holes in the storyline.One caveat, however: while technically a French movie, most of the dialogue is actually in English. However, there are times when the movie unaccountably lapses into un-subtitled French and Chinese, leaving the audience in the dark as to a few, possibly crucial, details in the story - proving yet again that a picture is not necessarily always worth a thousand words.

Michael Madsen is great in the part of Miles, a mover and shaker with a soft spot for hard-bodied beauties. Also, there's a Chinese guy (Carl Ng) who looks like an Asian edition of Edward Norton. Neither of which is the point. The point is the crazy Italian girl (Sandra, played by Asia Argento), and what she endures at the hands of the Golden Eagle corporation and its evil minions. Not that she's an angel herself. More than anything, she's a broken girl, not unlike Luc Besson's "Nikita". Sandra's half-hour kitchen scene is nothing short of a revelation. It starts with a shared cigarette and ends with a mess much bigger than dirty dishes and broken plates. It's the kind of mess that won't go away. So Sandra does. To Hong Kong, only to find Miles was the lesser evil after all. Asia Argento is obviously a serious person, not spoiled by random relativism like the rest of us. She throws herself into every scene, be it commonplace or spectacular, with the single-mindedness of a Zen master and the intensity of a maniac. Would I care though if she wasn't so hot? Not likely. I am what I am.