Le fidèle

Wait, I don't say that's not a good movie. No, only it did not reach the point I expected, especially after the trailer watching. This is a melodrama, not a crime film; or may I say a melodrama with some crime accents. You have here one of the best armored truck heist sequences ever. I don't remember a better scene since LE PACHA, back in 1968. It is a must see. For the rest, it is a pure melodrama in the line of Arthur Hiller's LOVE STORY or BOOBY DEERFIELD ( still around car races !!!). This movie is too long for my taste, but performances are amazing, as the directing. A strange film, indeed. Interesting but not what I waited for. Many things unexplained, especially the ending.

Very good Belgian romantic drama about a couple that, despite loving each other deeply, have a bad fate and are very different: he is a great robber (who does not have the best relationship with dogs) and she is a rich car racer (her background is less important than his in the film). Acting is excelent (Matthias Schoenaerts and Adèle Exarchopoulos also do work well together), script is quite good and it is very well directed. However, the very depressing end, while not being bad, it is clearly below the excellent level of most of the movie development.

Oh my gosh, I just watched this film, and I am truly blown away--this film is a masterpiece. Truly a work of art, and like some of the best films of all time, I have found myself not being able to stop thinking about it for days after watching it.

Where do I begin? The film itself is probably a drama, but the bank heist scenes are insane. I have never said this about another film in my life, but this film is the first film I would compare to my favorite film of all time, Heat. This is a different film--that is probably why it has not received as much attention, that and its poorly chosen US title. The biggest difference is this film is set in Europe, and it is more of a drama.

The cinematography and filmmaking displayed in this film are simply fantastic. And of course the acting is phenomenal, especially of course from the two lead roles. I am sure everyone is well aware of their impressive resumes, so there is no need for me to regurgitate that info, but I cannot write a review of this film without mentioning the impressive acting. Both the lead actor and actress are two of the best in the world right now, literally, and both at the peak of their careers.

If you are even considering watching this film, just try it, and trust me, just watch it--you will be blown away.

Well ... It's a very well made film, with a great cast, lead and supporting; it does have a few less than believable aspects to the plot I must say. But the first part is sort of the car racing + heist film you were promised.

Anyway, yeah, the first part is fine - plenty of chemistry between Gigi and Bibi, lots of action, it looks like it's going somewhere ... and then where it goes is rather dark. And then from there, it turns utterly bleak. Forlorn, sad, depressing; you name it. I felt like there was a dark cloud hanging over me afterwards, and I'm surprised my dreams that night weren't darker than they were. I generally like noir, but this was a bit much for me. Some people have a higher tolerance for that sort of thing than I do though. C'est la vie.

The first hour was entertaining. The second wasn't. I already had some difficulties with plot choices in the first half, but the suspense was there to keep the plot moving and the chemistry between Gigi and Bibi was intriguing enough. In the second half I find some plot choices too ridiculous and it made me loose my interest in the way the characters handle them somewhat. The sense of time also becomes kind of weird. A lot of very dramatic events are packed into that last hour, but the intensity or heaviness of them doesn't seem to come across the way it should.

I loved Karatzanis' photography and the sound design as well.

This movie is definitelty worth the watch. I think it deserves it's rating on here at the time of this review (6.3).