La proie

Director Eric Valette isn't exactly breaking new grounds but this is well made entertaining action thriller. For those of you who enjoyed Henri-Georges Clouzots & Jean-Pierre Melvilles films, or Luc Besson and of course Olivier Marchals films this should be perfect for you.

When it comes to casting this film doesn't disappoint...for example we have Albert Dupontel plays antihero Franck Adrien very convincingly, and he looks very tough while beating prisoners, shooting police officers, stealing cars etc while trying to save his family.

Alice Taglioni as the sleuth who wont give up her chase after Franck Adrien is new face to me. I don't remember seeing her in any other before but she did a good job here.

Stéphane Debac is very good and gives chilling performance as Jean-Louis Maurel, a person who might be more dangerous then Franck Adrien.

Sergi López I always liked since seeing Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien (2000)here only has small supporting part but is very good.

Biggest flaw here is some plot twists, screen writing could've been better and also, more depth in characters and story etc. It seems that Eric Valette has moved away from well written dark horrors like Maléfique (2002)and only focuses on the action.

But strangely I found this to be more compelling then US produced action thrillers like The Bourne Identity (2002. Just wish Eric Valette could go back to this roots like Maléfique (2002)or at least get a much deeper script. But seems with this film and with Une affaire d'état (2009)that he is moving in another direction.

It made me sit the whole hell of a movie without feeling the clock. If you did not watch this movie - go for it - it's time for one of the movies !! Especially when it's in language - that I did not believe the film would be so great.

One of the best tense thrillers seen in a long time though be also prepared to witness the terribly sick side of the human mind so well depicted. The film is packed with superb action, chases, suspense and tension and yet never feeling over the top as the scenario painted is so very plausible. Albert Dupontel plays the role of the fugitive prisoner with such realism, one gets the impression one is watching a docu-drama.

Where good many films content themselves with ensuring the viewer is left in a pleasant frame of mind as the story finally unfolds, this one has the courage to portray events more akin to reality, perhaps this may explain the film's low IMDb score and why even the critics may have found the movie hard to stomach?

This is a well made well written (the key!) French crime thriller that keeps you entertained.

I enjoyed the French prison part (are they really like this?) with what looked like private bathrooms pillows and desks pens and books etc... The inmates are entertained by cello and harpsichord chamber music (that was funny).

Anyway there are surprises which I love. I even liked the chases up to a point the escape from massive police operations seemed too impossible crack a whip over the writers a little harder there. Also by the time of denouement at the villa I was tiring of the movie...maybe because the first part was so good. And the ending with the letter wasn't needed just adds gimmick to this good movie.

I watched the movie Blood and Wine with Jack Nicholson and Michael Cain last night and the comparison couldn't be starker...this movie was 100 times more entertaining and better shot and directed.

I speak French but makes no difference use the subtitles anyway so I don't miss anything.

RECOMMEND!

French thriller that moves right along, incrementally closing down your brain as it does so. Albert Dupontel has the face to makes it work as a con on the lam but he's undermined by his nemesis - lady cop Alice Taglioni who looks likes she's just stepped off the catwalk. Her long, luxuriant arms look like they wouldn't trouble a fly of average strength but here they're knocking perps flat out. Even for the French, this is a bit de trop. The rest of the cast are the real deal with everyone playing their part to the hilt. It also looks good and the endless chases are well executed but in most aspects it's blown away by French TV cop shows like Spiral.