Ne le dis à personne

Tell No One (2006)

An intense, constantly evolving ambush of suspicion, including an epic footchase in the center of the movie and a couple final twists that will rock you at the end.

The leading character, Alexandre, is central throughout, played with drawn poker-face by Francois Cluzet. You might even say he overplays his sobriety, because he's not so much impassive in the face of upheaval as blank to it at times. But overall it's what he is, this man who faced a personal tragedy eight years earlier and now still struggles with the truth of it.

And we all struggle with this truth. Once the initial murder happens we are struck by the absence of a body. And by a feeling that something isn't what it seems. When the police re-interview Alexandre after eight years (which seems to be long enough for a statute of limitations declaration, though I don't know French law), we suddenly suspect him of either the murder or of complicity. There are new facts. There is a suspicious sighting in a surveillance video. There are his own doubts. And our doubts about his doubts.

The cast sprawls a bit at times--there are four main women, and several lesser men, so keep alert. The father and the father-in-law, the girlfriend's girlfriend, the sister, the lawyer, and so on. And it is the unfolding of conversations and stories and confessions that make the truth come out, one of those cases of telling rather than showing what happened. By the end this becomes a huge weakness in a movie that had so much shown and so much action until the last half hour. The twists are so huge, and played out with a couple of re-makes (so that the same actors replay the scenario differently now that the facts are rearranged), it's slightly flabbergasting.

If you don't mind having the wool pulled over your eyes this way (in a way you can't object to), you will be impressed by the overall tone of things. There is the energy and worry of a good American adventure crime film with fewer pyrotechnics and some convincing realism, both welcome in a world of overly produced movies. And the chase scene is notable--the man gets tired and sweaty, he has a lucky break or two, and then there's a brilliant if unlikely entry of a side of Paris we don't often see in mainstream movies, the minority neighborhoods with their brooding anger against the police which reminded me of late 60s America. It's a short insight.

If this seems like your arena at all, I'd definitely give this a look. We're all pretty used to unlikely twists by now, anyway, so the rest of the movie will hold itself up well.

Pediatrician Alexandre Beck (François Cluzet) and his wife Margot (Marie-Josée Croze) are skinny-dipping at the lake late at night. Margot disappears while somebody knocks out Alex. The police considers him prime suspect. Eight years later, two male bodies are found near the lake and the police starts investigating him again. Alex receives mystery e-mails showing Margot alive and out in public. He starts wondering about the body that was presumed to be her years ago that was identified by her father. He tells his sister Anne and her partner Hélène Perkins (Kristin Scott Thomas) and they hire lawyer Elysabeth Feldman. Mysterious thugs kill their friend Charlotte and set him up.

It's a good Hitchcockian mystery. It's got intensity like running across the highway. It's nice that none of the main characters are idiots. It's a smartly written complicated case that is slowly revealed. The best of all is that I think it all works. The only drawback is my unfamiliarity with the French legal system. The cops seem to be very pushy and I would think any smart man would ask for a lawyer. It's a great engaging mystery from start to finish.

Based on the best selling novel by Harlan Coben this is how a thriller should be made. If you thought Jack Bauer had bad days wait till you meet Dr. Alex Beck (played superbly by Francois Cluzet) the film starts with him along with his wife spending sometime by a lake when she and then he are attacked, she is murdered and he is put into a coma. Skip eight years into the future and although never forgetting his wife's memory he has to a certain extent rebuilt his life. Then things start to turn, when two bodies are discovered buried near the lake and certain evidence suggest a link to Alex and the unsolved case of his murdered wife, suddenly it looks like he is in the frame, again. Then Alex begins to receive e-mails from an anonymous source at first but which seem to be coming from his wife, could she still be alive? And if so what the hells been going on? At 2hrs 11mins this isn't by any means a short film but it is handled so well by director Guillaume Canet that not once did I even notice the time, from the moment the story hooks you it never lets go right up to the end. As Alex starts to dig deeper and deeper to try and uncover the truth you are with him all the way discovering things as he does and when the whole thing finally unfolds it really is quite breathtaking. This film for me had everything, a brilliant script, a seasoned cast, twists and turns, Jeff Buckley's 'lilac wine' used to amazing effect (you will know what I mean when you see it) stunning cinematography, complex subplots that never once get too confusing, it truly is one of the most enjoyable and intelligent films I've seen for a long time.

Based on a mystery writer's novel which I've not read, the film succeeds courtesy of some great acting. So often a mystery is put together with clues and red herrings, and then at the end you fold a puzzle piece and voila it fits. I think it appeals to the clockwork mind, and as their is often crime involved, there is a sense of some extracurricular guidance towards justice.

While this film has that, and action moves like car chases, pistol whipping and a lengthy running script (the kind Tom Cruise would demand be inserted in a film of his), Francois Cluzet holds the center of the film in more gentle hands. He's a good guy, even when mixed up with the bad guys, he brings out their inherent benevolence. You go, Bruno!

Films like this hinge upon believing that bad moves are really the best moves one can take, the story and acting help sell that here in my opinion. In real life, I think in most cases perhaps not as intricate as this, I would Tell Some One, and likely an authority. Granted plenty of films from America North and South, make clear the dangers of corrupt cops and who watches the watchers. Maybe in Europe, things could be different.

Again for the genre, experts might not enjoy this (or pick it apart for a variety of reasons). But I was able to just enjoy the people on screen foremost (always helps to have Nathalie Baye involved), and then the pacing and plot.

Nice to see the director hatched the script and put himself in the mix on screen as well. Recommend you watch it, and then figure out the right someone to tell to see it next.

Also excellent music throughout, especially that closing track.

This movie is just amazing well scripted,acted with lots of twists. It worked as a slow burner for me with it's long duration. It didn't bore me at all,kept me hooked whole time.