Un homme idéal

How far does one go to succeed? This is the question the movie 'Un homme idéal' deals with. In it, Pierre Niney plays the unsuccessful author Mathieu, to whom chance gives the diary of a dead man, which he unceremoniously transforms into his own novel and thus has the much-awaited mega-success. A small step with a big impact. Because at some point the world of literature expects a follow-up work and even worse, someone contacts Mathieu who has known the real author. Finally Mathieu is involved in a spiral of violence and lies, which gets its own momentum and can no longer be stopped ... Director Yann Gozlan presents a story in a stringent rhythm that Alfred Hitchcock probably would have loved. Like the master of suspense, Gozlan tumbles down the save world of his protagonist within a short moment and let him fight to survive. And just like Hitchcock, Gozlan manages that we feel sympathy for Mathieu, no matter how drastic the actions are he takes to uphold the dizziness. And with that, the director avoids giving a moral judgment on Mathieu, he leaves that to the viewer. 'Un homme idéal' is brilliantly staged with the camera, fluidly narrated, without fast cuts, logically constructed, in beautiful colors and in the present time a recovery for the eye. The story is without any length and gives a constant tension. After 104 minutes you wonder how fast the time has passed. The film is focused on its leading actor, this leaves the supporting players a little pale in their character, but that is criticism at the highest level. And that in the end one or two little things of the logic ago might be reconsidered, finally doesn't matter at all. The moral of the movie, without giving away too much, is the fact, that whoever climbs high can still fall a lot deeper. The end of the movie is suprising, harrowing and deeply touching. The film has consistently excellent actors, most notably the new French superstar Pierre Niney, here in Germany best known from Francois Ozon's 'Frantz' (in the UK probably with 'Yves Saint Laurent'). Pierre Niney comes from the theater (La Comédie Francaise) and can rightly be described as the greatest talent since Patrick Dewaere. So far, he has delivered outstanding performance in all of his films. At the moment he has huge success in France with a biopic about the french writer Romain Gary. Unfortunately, this film (La promesse de l 'aube) as well as 'Un homme idéal' has not yet found a German distributer and one wonders how it can be that every stupid crap is thrown on the market and successful films like 'Un homme idéal' (about 700.000 admissions in France) and 'La promesse de l'aube' (after 3 weeks already 750.000 admissions) can not find a german distributor !!! Who would not like to relinquish instead one of these unbearable real-life comic book films from the States ????

Despite some inconsistencies in the plot--I can't figure out why Mathieu's in debt, he doesn't have expensive tastes--this is a pretty gripping murder thriller. Plagiary has been used before (remember Morvern Callar when the girl steals her dead boyfriend's book) but rarely with such entertaining results. To go from labourer to acclaimed novelist must be the dream of many; here it really happens. Pierre Niney has made some fine films in the last few years--Yves Saint Laurent, Frantz--here he shows how desperate this man can get when he's cornered. Ana Girardot plays his fiancee; she's somewhat spoiled but that doesn't prevent her from starting to suspect Mathieu's intentions. Marc Barbe plays a really slimy blackmailer, dripping with malice and faux-friendliness. Great cast, fine entertainment.

Set in the art, and to be accurate literature, world, we first follow a failed writer that happened to lay hands on a masterpiece. Jumping at the chance, he managed to make his life a perfect dream. There the movie really begins, with the pressure of a second book when he has been labelled a genius. Soon joined by pressures from his agent, bank, love rival and finally blackmail. How will he resist all this? What is he ready to do or to give up?

This is a movie that will bring back to your mind the most popular novels by Patricia Highsmith, both in terms of plot and characterization. The hero is a young aspiring writer who stumbles upon a forsaken manuscript by a deceased author that he steals in order to make his dream come true. After the commercial and critical success of his first book, the protagonist Mathieu Vasseur, feels brave enough to approach the young upper-class literature professor, Alice, and they soon become a happy couple. When Mathieu moves into Alice's house, where she lives along with her parents, he will have to face major challenges as he realizes that there is also someone else who knows the truth about his scam and he blackmails him for vast amounts of money.

Mathieu is the typical anti-hero, reminiscent to characters such as Tom Ripley, immoral, unprincipled, and ready to remove permanently any potential threats to his new posh lifestyle. The plot moves forward in a brisk pace and the suspense that permeates the movie as a whole keeps the viewer glued to his seat. "Un Homme Ideal" is a movie really similar, as far as the story is concerned, to an American production, titled ''The Words" (2012) starring Bradley Cooper and Dennis Quaid. If you choose to give it a chance, it is sure that you won't regret it.

If you like suspense genre, watch this movie. Beginning was a bit slow to start but after little moment it went to be on the edge of your seat movie. Hitchcock would be proud.