Le pharmacien de garde

(a Breton (celtic) chemist serial killer with an ecologic leitmotiv makes friend with a young cop - Depardieu son. This later will understand that the one he befriends is the one he is chasing...) Well, when first playing this film I thought it would be one of these french movies whose over-sophistication tries to compensate the scenario's dumbness, and even if the storyline is quite basic I must admit I was wrong. Perez's performance is brilliant, and the global montage gives way in this quite indigent story to some personal interpretation that the fans won't miss. Nothing to do with french independent film, if such a thing exists, but a nonetheless not so bad film that can fit a relax evening meeting with a pizza. Of course serious ecologists will surely get infuriated with the mess that is done with their ideas...

This film is about a pharmacist who is intent on saving the earth. The way he goes about it is by murdering people he thinks are not ecologically sound. One example is the CEO of a cosmetics company.

The pharmacist (played by the very sexy Swiss actor Vincent Perez) befriends a disillusioned cop(played by Guillaume Depardieu, son of Gerard). To say any more about the plot will be wrong but this film was so much more enjoyable than I expected it to be. When I first got the film (from our French rental club) I checked the rating on here and was very disappointed when I saw a rating of less than 5. I put it into the machine with an attitude of 'oh well, let's see how the first ten minutes are'. I was so overjoyed to find that it was a stylish, fast-moving film about murder, intrigue, love and betrayal that begins in Paris and ends up in the countryside of Brittany, where the pharmacist's farmhouse retreat is based.

If you like sophisticatedEuropean films, you'll enjoy this. If Beverley Hills Cop is your particular genre, don't bother getting this film.

Story of a Parisian pharmacist, who considers himself the heir of the ancient Druids and dreamed about the environmental paradise on a separate farm in Provence. And in his spare time, he sacrifices the main enemies of the world of nature: the owner of the oil tanker, the head of cosmetic corporations and tobacco magnate.

Unconvincing attempt to demonstrate the well-known truth that good intentions pave the road to hell. Obsessed pharmacist (Perez) lacks of credibility - too cheerful idealist he looks. Only Guillaume Depardieu gives to the film a human dimension. The other characters do not cause any sympathy, and the finale is almost ridiculous, despite biblical tragedy, declared by the director.

+ French thriller

• Weak French thriller