Möbius

For a change, it is eventful to watch non-Hollywood type of thriller, with more mind-twists and less chases or killings. Romantic angle is usually proper as well, especially among the French and by talented actors like Jean Dujardin and Cécile de France, but the film in question became too wistful and tensions faded away even where appropriate... True, the chemistry between them was pleasant and erotic scenes added "French touch" but - as mentioned - one could easily forget the background with at least 3 secret services striving for getting their aims fulfilled.

Moreover, the story became too complex as well at times, but what I liked was multiple solutions in the ending, and the very final scene provides food for thought. The use of Russian actors was good (as it is a Russian-French film), however, the contrast of pure Russian spoken by them and that by Dujardin and Tim Roth (depicting Russian gangster Rostovsky) became too obvious.

Nevertheless, if you like calm spy films, then Möbius is more than an entertainment.

"I can't steal but I can still seduce." Alice (De France) is a trader who is caught up in a deadly ring of money laundering. When a powerful Russian finds her and forces her to help him she meets Moïse (Dujardin), a Russian operative. Her and Moïse strike up a fast relationship both trying to hide who they really are from each other, but you can only hide the truth for so long. This is a hard movie to review, mainly because the plot was a little hard to follow, for me at least. It was really just a movie about a type of espionage triangle and you begin to question everyone's motives. It was pretty slow moving and went back and forth between french and English so if you aren't a big foreign movie fan that is your warning. This is a movie for a select group of people. For me it was a little too slow and predictable for me to fully get into. Overall, nothing that I would rush and see or see again. I give this a C+.

We went to see Mobius on it's first evening showing in our local movie theater. We were pleasantly surprised by an interesting spy movie with contemporary plot.

First the good parts: The movie is filmed very very well - with excellent editing and beautiful outside shots in Monaco and Moskva. The acting is excellent and the plot has more than a few twists and enough mystery to keep you interested.

The only thing I was sure, was that being Russian - no one would be happy in the end and without spoiling the plot - you will not be disappointed from that aspect.

The not so good parts The movie is a bit slow moving and the dialog could have been crisper. The co-star's English was noticeably French-accented and not American which took away from the credibility of the character. The director could have done a better job on the Americans; the American CIA characters were stereotypical and portrayed in a way that I imagine many Europeans visualize Americans.

This is an intricate bittersweet drama and love story much more than it is an action/adventure or thriller. The pacing is methodical and consistent while the production value is quite high, with excellent cinematography and really well laid out interior and exterior scenes. It paints a captivating portrait of high risk banking and espionage just as it does Monaco and Moscow.

The acting is good with a well rounded cast. There was one odd and weird sequence of close up facial shots, but other than that I found the film quite compelling and even moving, with few flaws.

If you are looking for explosions, car chases and gun fights look elsewhere. Watch this film if you want to be immersed in a human story draped in exotic locales and professions.

This movie is too good for bad ratings. Someone ought to change it. That said, I had a some trouble understanding the plot, because I missed the first ten minutes. This only added to the excitement though, because the movie has some interesting twists. A real spy movie, with beautiful sexy actors and adequate photography. Nice surprise on rainy day. Don't forget candy.