Thursday, October 2, 2008

TELL NO ONE




Crime thriller
In French with English subtitles
Original title: Ne le dis à personne

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
François Cluzet: Dr. Alexandre Beck
Marie-Josée Croze: his wife Margot
André Dussollier: her father Jacques
Kristin Scott Thomas: Alex’s friend Hélène
François Berléand: Police Inspector Levkowitch
Nathalie Baye: Elysabeth Feldman, a lawyer
Jean Rochefort: Gilbert Neuville, wealthy owner of race horses
Marina Hands: Alex’s sister Anne, an equestrian
Gilles Lellouche: Bruno, a nasty bad guy
Guillaume Canet: Gilbert’s son Philippe

REVIEW
A good murder mystery should provide enough clues amidst all the red herrings so that the average reasonably intelligent person should be able to figure out “who dunnit”. In this instance you haven’t got a hope in Hades.

There are far too many twists and turns in this convoluted tale of mayhem. Compound that with having too many people to keep track of plus having three or four of the actresses barely distinguishable from one another and you will soon give up trying to figure it out. And if that’s not all, it’s way too long. And if you’re not alert and paying attention during the last ten minutes or so you will never find out “who duunit”. And you will have wasted over two hours of your time.

CLASSIFICATION


FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
 When Alex types in the password to his email account it shows up on the screen but that is not what really happens. Instead to maintain the confidentially of the password a * appears for each letter typed in and not the word itself.
 During an equestrian competition the television announcer says the rider is participating in the European championship whereas clearly it is an Olympic event because the logo of five coloured rings is on the last jump he goes over.
 The license plate of Alex’s car ends in 78 when we first see it but the next time around it’s been downgraded to 75.
 While Alex is talking to the police “poof” out of nowhere behind them a delivery person with flowers appears. His approach to the house no doubt remains on the cutting room floor.

P.S.
Overheard while exiting the theatre:
First gentleman asking his friend: “So what do you think of it?”
His friend: “I fell asleep part way through so when I woke up I was totally confused”
First gentleman: “I stayed awake the entire time and like you I was totally confused too”
Enough said.

No comments: