La confrérie des larmes

This film is a fast-paced thriller designed to keep the audience guessing until the final minutes. Despite a few clunky plot twists and turns it retains its credibility mainly due to the talent of its lead actor, Belgian-born Jérémie Renier.

Neither Renier nor director Jean-Baptiste Andrea are strangers to international film-goers. Renier was Eirik in Martin McDonagh's In Bruges, while Andrea has directed a couple of films stateside (Dead End in 2003 and Big Nothing in 2006). This could account for the very transatlantic feel to La Confrerie which pays more attention to style and pace than in-depth character development.

Renier is Gabriel Chevalier, an ex-cop whose personal life has taken a nosedive. He's a gambler, an alcoholic, a widower and single-parent to a rebellious teenage daughter. Unable to hold down regular work, he takes up the dubious offer of a job which involves sitting in an empty office waiting for the phone to ring. When it does, Chevalier is told to deliver a black briefcase to a specific address. One final instruction, he must never, ever, look inside the briefcase.

Working as a well-paid delivery man, Chevalier trots around the globe while gradually being pulled deeper into a world of hired assassins and hardened thugs until a line is crossed and he wants out. Unfortunately, the job has no expiry date and to protect his family and reset his moral compass, he must solve the mystery of what's inside the black briefcase.

Andrea proves adept at building intrigue and tension in equal measure – a skill which goes to the heart of a good thriller. But La Conferie belongs to Renier. He has created a multi-layered anti-hero who seamlessly moves from being a tough man-of-action to an attentive, caring father. The scenes with his 12-year-old daughter Juliette show a completely different side to the ex-cop which helps to excuse some of his later, more erratic behaviour. Only his relationship with Clare Foczensky (Audrey Fleurot) a female police officer, hits a false note. Perhaps in the style of American movies, a 'love interest' is de rigeur? But here it only creates a time- consuming and contrived parenthesis to a film which was getting along fine all on its own. In 2012, Renier won huge plaudits in France for his brilliant portrayal in the film Cloclo of popular French-singer Claude François, most famous for co-writing the song 'My Way'. He is a hugely watcheable actor and his role as Chevalier is once again a testament to his versatility.

I totally dug this movie, very different from what's usually made in France. Stylishly shot, it features a Jeremie Renier in top form. I used to find him a bit on the shallow side before but he's really grown into a very strong actor.

This film has a strong identity, visually, musically and story-wise which won't appeal to everyone, especially to people who love to know beforehand exactly what they're going to see. As we follow Gabriel through his rags to riches story, it's impossible to tell where the plot is going to take us next. The audience is kept on their feet, I actually felt really tense at the end. Is it a thriller? A horror movie? A drama? It's all of the above.

As for the ending itself, I think it's a fantastic concept, one I wouldn't be surprised to see remade. It's just dealt with a bit too quickly, the movie could've used another 2 minutes of extra time.

Special kudos to young Melusine Mayance, and two thumbs up for a rather unusual soundtrack. All in all a very, very special, boundary-pushing movie, hope to see more of these coming from and to France in the future!

If you get a lot of money, for something that is "easy" ... well you can imagine that there is more to it. And the viewer knows it and the ex-cop who's doing the job probably knows it too. But money buys a lot of things and let's people sleep well. The story itself is a slow-burner, especially at the beginning, but picks up the pace towards the end and gets really good there.

So the first half might be something you have to fight through, but there is some reward, even if you can't relate to the main character. The little girl is really good acting-wise and the story does pack a punch or two, which you might not expect like that.