Contre-enquête

Having watched for years Jean Dujardin in his hilarious sitcom "Un Gars Une Fille" ,I was wondering how he would manage in a dramatic story.He is quite convincing ,as is Laurent Lucas in a shady role.The story is ,except for the debatable ending,close to the famous Boileau-Narcejac frame-ups with a dash of Patricia Highsmith thrown in for good measure ,but the characters lack in-depth psychology.The movie is too short and the part of Daniel is underwritten.The scene when Dujardin arrives on the scene of the crime shows the influence of Clint Eastwood's "Mystic river" .All in all,this is a rather good thriller,which could have been really great.The short nightmare scene ("I can't ,dad,I'm dead") is effective.

Jean Dujardin plays "Richard Malinowski", a model cop and family man in this film loaded with famous actors like J. P. Cassel, Aurélien Recoing and J. F. Garreaud. Beautiful Caroline Santini plays the unknowing victim of a psychopath so well you can't forget her case easily. Visually beautiful, great music, a rather classic/ conventional plot in the beginning, but the movie doesn't deliver if you know how to wait.

Claire M., the long-suffering wife of our main character, could've been better developed, following instead the well trodden lines of the "wife that doesn't understand the hero, leaves him at the worst moment, is cold and always complaining". I'd expect a better leading female character, at least in a film made in 2007.

What I most liked is the cop culture of fellowship, even when they know what their "brothers in arms" are up to. They protect each other. For good or for bad :).

Enjoy!

PS: To the fellow IMDb reviewer "kosmasp": Yes, Dujardin is very well known in France, he's always at Cannes, having just won the best actor prize there with the beautiful film "L'Artiste" with Bérénice Bejo, for instance.

Contre-Enquete is the prime example of a movie that is not really well directed, but that is carried on by his actors. If you like your direction tight and extensive, this is not a movie for you.

You seldom feel rushed into the action, the scenes are too short and everything happens in the same time, which makes it difficult to get attached to the characters. In its first twenty minutes, the movie out pours a lot of emotional scenes that comes out as being cheesy because...well the movie is just starting! Nobody really cares about the characters yet.

But there is all the bad I have to say. The odyssey of a broken down father to find the true murderer of his daughter is a gripping tale that has Jean Dujardin and Laurent Lucas as their shining stars. Their play is subtle, tight and leaves the viewer in a total state of confusion towards the potential ending of the movie.

It could have been a landslide due to its predictability and its sloppiness, but Dujardin and Lucas made this an overall rather enjoying experience.

... by a few things. Like how good the movie was, how bad it is rated here and how convincing the main actor was in this (given the movie I saw him before was a spoof, OSS 117). Although I heard he's a big star over in France.

No wonder I say. His performance holds this movie together, which may be a little predictable and might run a bit too long, but it still is a good movie. With a very difficult topic that is. And a relationship between two characters, that is disturbing to say the least. And that's not only counting for the wife of the main character (it's his movie though, which is apparent too), but also with the other main person of the movie. It moves slowly, but if you adapt to that, than you will like it (and the twists will be a nice addition, too).

First "writers_reign" the script is not an adaptation of a novel written by Robert Bloch but by Lawrence Block, also author of "Eight million ways to die" adapted by Hal Ashby. Having said this the movie itself offers a good and unusual performance by Jean Dujardin and a new great one by Laurent Lucas. Franck Mancuso being an ex cop is certainly in a better place that anyone to know about police procedures and does a good job for his first directorial task. It's also great to see a cameo by the late Jean-Pierre Cassel. So, in the end it's a tight (the movie is approx 75mn long) crime drama that don't relies on car chases or gunfights. French thrillers still can be made these days.