La volante

I always cringe when I hear word Hitchcockian. Timeless masterpieces by the grand master who practically invented the genre of thriller and suspense, just do not transfer well in this era. So, I wasn't wrong again, even if this neat, a bit campy flick managed to entertain and even produce few chills. All of this happens mostly due to Nathalie Baye, the grand dame of French cinema. Even in this more than slightly over the top movie, she brings certain aura of dignity. She plays her character tightly without unnecessary histrionics, but with some welcome detachment, to let us know not to take anything to seriously. Even in all of this blood and gore she maintains certain amusement.

What a taut drama telling us the story of a woman whose the son is killed as a jaywalker by a hit - but not run - driver, a man whose the wife is about to give birth to their first child. Nine years later the deceased's mother - Nathalie Baye - seeks for a terrific revenge for her son death. She impersonates the killer husbands'secretary, assistant, and then step by step plans an insidious and machavellian intrusion inside the man's life, professional and personal: wife, child, father. Nathalie Baye is here absolutely outstanding as the villain, the first time in her career. But a villain character for whom we feel great empathy. This film reminded me another french feature which was made back in 2008: L'EMPREINTE DE L'ANGE, nearly the same atmosphere and same kind of story, if not the same tale. Don't miss it.

The plot of "La volante" will be familiar to anyone who's spent time watching Lifetime movies, but predictability doesn't harm this delicious morsel of a French thriller. Nathalie Baye delivers another masterful performance as the mother of a car crash victim who's now seeking revenge against the driver and his family. She ingratiates herself into his world without his knowing her identity, slowly becoming a critical figure in his life.

Baye is great in this, expertly conveying quiet rage simmering underneath a calm exterior. It's hard not to root for her at first, especially given how much of an uninteresting schlub the man she's pursuing is! The psychological insights may be a bit shallow, as is often the case in this sort of film, but Baye's performance adds more than enough depth and interest.

It started off decently enough, but soon the clichés began rolling in. This is something you'll have seen dozens of times before. It's quite drawn out... Those 87 minutes start to feel like 187. Overall, not a lot happens, except for those tropes of course. I wouldn't bother with this one - there's no depth to it.

I like this movie, but it is a bit slow. The plot is no different from any other revenge movie. Son gets killed by a car while jaywalking. victims mom seeks revenge by posing as his secretary. Gets close to the killers family and do revenge type things.