Anthony Zimmer

There are some movies you watch to learn something, and some you watch to be entertained, and some you watch for both purposes.

This is a pure entertainment movie, and I liked it a lot. The most important things in a movie like this are to have a plot that twists and turns but remains at least semi-plausible, to have a reasonably attractive hero, a super-sexy femme fatale and appropriately menacing villains, and above all to keep up the pace no matter what. Anthony Zimmer does all of these things rather well. Throw in the bonus of lots of the high life -- the mountain-top super-house, the suite at the Carlton in Nice and all the rest -- and the extra bonus of a happy ending (I don't think that's a spoiler) and you make a very enjoyable evening out.

Don't bother trying to work out later how all the bits fitted together. Some of them don't fit all that well, but then they never do in films like this, and it's not the point. They fit together well enough while you're watching it.

I saw this at the annual festival of French films put on by the Alliance Française in Melbourne, Australia. It opened the Festival, and later was shown again at a multiplex. The later showing was originally supposed to be in one 250-seat cinema, but demand was so great that it eventually was shown in three 250-seaters simultaneously, all of which were completely full. We all went home happy.

Not very often have I watched a thriller that entertained me as much as this one, throughout its whole duration. I don't think this film made a big splash at the box office or earned much critical acclaim, which is a shame.

In my view, its fascinating scenery, the many twists and turns, a fabulous Sophie Marceau, and not least a clever ending, make this pure entertainment to watch and would have deserved better.

The film does remind me of Hitchcock at his best.

Not all the pieces may fit together all the time, but I don't find this to be an issue with this movie. When the final credits rolled, I was still in a kind of trance smiling to myself about the clever storyline and its convincing presentation.

...or she in his? Captivating, elegant little thriller. It's not spectacular in any obvious way, yet I couldn't take my eyes off the screen for just one second. It starts out almost exactly like "Mr Bean's Holiday": a guy on a southbound express train, headed for the coast, hoping for recreation. Which he won't find. That's where the the script leaves the common ground. It's rich in twists and turns, clever to the point of cunning. Production design and cinematography are among the most elegant you will find. Cool, minimalistic interior sets contrast with the time-tested cinematic sparkle of the Côte D'Azur. Similarly, wide-angle shots are inter-cut with extreme close-ups, e.g., of pills dancing on a shaking spiral staircase, the pulsing red halo of the caller light on a ringing telephone, or a pair of shades dropped casually into an earthenware bowl. Scenes you have seen a thousand times, this movie makes you see them with new eyes: a guy killing time watching TV, a car chase in an underground parking lot, or someone having coffee and reading the paper in the morning sun. Admittedly, Sophie Marceau helped to keep me interested. She plays a woman six years her junior, and she more than gets away with it. She is in the shape of her life. I think she may have had something done to her face, but it looks good and doesn't show. I can see why President Mitterand took her on his trips abroad as an icon of French allure. The five-second scene in which she wires herself for the showdown alone made it worth my while. The final plot twist may not be up to common standards of plausibility, but it doesn't subtract from 90 minutes spent in silent wonder at what the French can do with a little sunshine and lot of mascara.

In Paris, the international police force and the Russian mafia are chasing Anthony Zimmer, an intelligent man responsible for laundry of dirty money in France. Zimmer was submitted to a plastic surgery, and his new face and voice are completely unknown. The only means to reach Zimmer is through his beloved mistress Chiara (Sophie Marceau), who is under surveillance of the police and the mobsters. While traveling by train to the country nearby Nice, the common man François Taillandier (Yvan Attal), who has the same body shape of Zimmer, is select by Chiara as if he were Zimmer and used as a bait to lure those that are pursuing her. When Taillandier is chased by the professional Russian killers, he runs the French police when the real situation begins to be disclosed to him.

"Anthony Zimmer" is a great thriller, with a situation that recalls Hitchcock's classic "North By Northwest", i.e., a man mistaken for another and pursued by criminals. The attractive story has many twists, a nice cast with the gorgeous Sophie Marceau and the efficient Yvan Attal in the lead roles. The beautiful locations in France is an amazing tour in this wonderful country. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Anthony Zimmer A Caçada" ("Anthony Zimmer The Hunting")

This is a story which we've seen many times in American movies. About the common gentle guy who without wanting so, gets involved in heavy things. And it could happen to all of us.

The plot is rather clever, but you have some unanswered questions in the end. Sophie Marceaux plays the mystic lady and you never know whether she really is good or bad. Not even when the movie is over.

What is a quite intelligent psychological drama, turns into a violent outburst. Anyway it's nice to watch such a plot in another environment; here the French Côte d'Azur. But it's too physical in the end and maybe the plot maker hasn't had any real good ideas about how to finish it.