Le crime est notre affaire

I don't normally go for the comedy genre, but Crime is Our Business is just irresistibly and chokingly hilarious and at the same time extremely witty.

The acting by Mr and Mrs Beresford ignites the chemistry of the magically perfect pairing up of two top-notch comedians. The movie keeps its story line of murder mystery and suspense and at the same time is fully capable of supplying the audience with unceasing outbursts of laughters and satire.

An unmissable French comedy which is highly unforgettable and sets the bar higher for its counterparts. Welcome on board the insane business of Mr and Mrs Beresford!

'Le crime est notre affaire' made in 2008 by Pascal Thomas was one of my holiday viewings this season. The film is the third in a series of screen versions of Agatha Christie's novels, adapted and transferred to France. More recently, the series 'Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie' uses the same formula. The general lines of the detective mystery are preserved, but the story and characters are updated and Gallicized. The tone is comedic. Agatha Christie was never a realistic writer, in her novels we have to accept a convention and a manipulation, the psychology of the characters is linked to the enigma that needs to be solved. The same goes for the films that adapt her novels. The result is sometimes pathetic, sometimes OK, sometimes better than that. 'Le crime est notre affaire' manages to amuse and relax, especially thanks to a team of quality actors including Catherine Frot, André Dussollier, Claude Rich, Chiara Mastroianni. They all seem to have had a good time filming and they manage to entertain us, the viewers, too.

This is the third Agatha Christie adaptation (and second featuring Tommy and Tuppence) by Pascal Thomas and his best to-date.

Thomas is at the top of his art when he can combine mystery and sophisticated comedy, which is the case once again in 'Le Crime est notre affaire', a loose adaptation of '4.50 From Paddington' in which Miss Marple has been replaced by Tommy and Tuppence. The mystery is exciting (a murder without a corpse) but as was the case with 'Mon petit doigt m'a dit' the pleasure also comes from the offbeat atmosphere, the strange locations , the impeccable cast with the right talented actor or actress in the right place (special kudos to Claude Rich as the old stingy pain in the neck).

The icing on the cake is the brilliant dialog, filled with witty one-liners, exchanged by a wonderful couple of modern Myrna Loy-William Powells (I mean of course the marvelous Catherine Frot and André Dussolier), as the eccentric bickering-but-loving couple of amateur sleuths.

An entertainment of very good quality.