Film Reviews by RP

A fine cast were obviously given the script for the first half of the film before they signed on. A philosophical look at gender engineering, life and what happens when the life we make doesn't want to behave in the way we want it to or expect. But then the second half of the film decided it has had enough with all that stuff and wants to play at Terminator. The pay off at the end is so predictable that anybody who didn't guess it from the first moment would have been a better person than me. On saying all this it is an enjoyable romp. But a romp instead of a better film that it could have been.

Overly long but in the end the film manages to convey a simple truth. Despite a traumatic childhood our heroine has forged a successful and typically French sophisticated life. Yet after another awful incident She still is no shrinking victim. As the film goes on we begin to realize why. Without shame you cannot be a victim. Sometimes the acting feels too by the book. A wonderful lead performance just about manages to make the film hang together. But otherwise we tend to be left with very obvious characters. Enjoyable and thought provoking if overly long.

No doubt that the thriller was a good idea. But as we have seen similar before they made it into an arty, meaningful, lost dream, wistful, looking back on what could have been, multi layered type of film. It works well and has a great cast that add substance and depth to what could have been just another thriller. Yes It could be argued that it is a case of style over substance but there is nothing wrong in that. Just in case you didn't pick up on the little pointers between the past, the present and the fictional book, the extras add the hammer to explain it. Well worth a watch I thought.