Crime d'amour

Large, spacious offices with magnificent views, a cluster of seemingly enviably successful business people.Everything is elegant and stylish, clothes and furniture. Almost like a perfect place on earth. But, this is corporate world, thickly populated with useful sociopaths, the lucky ones that made their pathology not only acceptable, but highly profitable. Well, good for them, but not so good for us. Their ruthless and efficient lunacy, transformed our world into new gladiator arena. Survival of the sickest. No room for compassion or decency. Hence the famous mantra of the demonic new ruling class. It's not personal, it's business. Dangerous saying for dangerous times. A permit to maim and slaughter all who are less deserving, and that's everybody, except themselves.Because who works harder doing nothing useful as this coven of warlocks and witches. New horror for the new era.

Having watched Sweet Karma earlier tonight, I don't know if I was in the mood for two revenge movies, but this is very different.

A favorite of mine, Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient, Four Wedding and a Funeral) stars with another fave, Ludivine Sagnier (Swimming Pool, 8 Women). They are number one and two in a multinational's Paris location. Christine Thomas) is not above stealing the ideas of Isabelle (Sagnier) to get transferred to New York.

This was director Alain Corneau's last film, and it has already been picked up for a remake by Brian DePalma coming out this year. It is rumored that Rachel McAdams (Sherlock Holmes, Red Eye) and Noomi Rapace (the original Lisbeth Salander) will star.

After Christine threatens and humiliates Isabelle, she plots her revenge. Needless to say, it is an elaborate plot. I can't say anything more or it will spoil the film for you.

It had me on the edge of my seat in the second half.

I enjoyed this movie very much, as I usually enjoy French movies, whether they are comedies or dramas. The look of this film is impeccable, all interiors are exquisitely designed and of top quality as is the photography and the lighting, as perfect as they can get nowadays. The acting is superb and the pacing flawless. I just found among the dubious happenings, a most obvious flaw: Anyone will see immediately that a piece of cloth that was cut quite sharply with an Exacto knife, will get a sharp edge, a look totally different from a piece of the same fabric torn by accident, like getting the fabric caught on a nail or any sharp corner, accident that will practically destroy the edge of that fabric, leaving it completely unraveled. To me that is the most flagrant mistake in the whole script. Otherwise an excellent movie, quite absorbing and entertaining.

Rare for a mysterious thriller set in the high stakes business realm, Love Crime (Crime d'Amour) is dominated by women with the men relegated to paltry supporting roles. Christine (Kristin Scott Thomas) is on the fast track to the elite tier of her international business firm as chief of their Paris office. She is confident, sexy, knows how to work the room, and has complete faith in her subordinate Isabelle (Ludivine Sagnier). Not only is Christine a business mentor to Isabelle, she also assumes the role of life coach, close confidant, and in a few moments, possible temptress.

Isabelle is also on the fast track but is severely overshadowed by the extroverted Christine. She has original ideas which win the firm big clients but Christine will frequently claim those ideas as her own to help her case for promotion. Christine does not necessarily view this as the immoral thing to do. She is the boss and ideas flow to the top. Plus, any success merited to Christine will naturally help Isabelle's career; however, Isabelle must never forget who is truly in charge.

While attempting to prove herself outside of Christine's shadow, Isabelle sparks a feud between the two careerists with drastic consequences. So begins an intricate chess match of hints, allegations, innuendo, and dramatic backroom conversations. Christine attempts to squash her former protégé back into obscurity and Isabelle maneuvers to step into her own spotlight subverting her malicious boss.

If you have a weakness for 'who dunnits' or intricate true crime methodologies, then Love Crime is your guilty pleasure come true. However, if you have only passing interest in the above mentioned genre, then you can take or leave this film. The script is sharp, the acting is a pleasure to watch, and the intense, hushed French conversations will keep you immersed, but there is not much more to it.

Isabelle's relationship with Christine reminded me a bit of the earlier Ludivine Sagnier role in Swimming Pool, but instead of Charlotte Rampling, this time you get a much more assertive Kristin Scott Thomas. There are also direct reminders of The Business of Strangers with Stockard Channing and Julia Stiles.

Sagnier redeems herself in this audience member's eye from her disastrous work in The Devil's Double. While that was a good film, her character and acting drastically impacted its plausibility. Plausibility is also a factor here in Love Crime. There are overreactions you would never see in reality but the intricate follow through in the malevolent details make up for a good portion of disbelief.

Apart from saying that this movie is about competition between two ambitious female executives, I don't plan to get into the plot. The strength of the movie lies in the performances of the principals, Kristin Scott Thomas as the ruthless senior executive, and Ludivine Sagnier as her imaginative young assistant. Ms. Scott Thomas, English born but a long-time resident of France, seems to appear in an unending stream of British, French and American movies. This an unusual role for her but she is an accomplished actress and carries it off with her usual skill. The younger Ms. Sagnier is also splendid in an equally demanding part. Eventually, "Love Crime" becomes an intricately plotted murder mystery which, at least for me, is unconvincing. But I enjoyed the ride.