Monday, August 11, 2008

Tell No One

Tell No One is not a taught thriller, but a big sloppy French thriller-mystery with so many twists and blind alleys and wrong turns and lies and lies unearthed, that when the whole thing is over, you just feel sort of irritated. And I like France.

Look, it’s much better than much out there. The acting is, truly, sublime. The shooting is so beautiful and suspenseful, without being jumpy, that you just want to thank someone for your set of eyes. And what is this bluish-gray filter they’ve been using lately for everything? I like it. There is a chase scene through an open air market in a low end neighborhood on the edge of a highway that is thrilling. The acting, I have to say it again, is perfect, all across, everywhere.

The story, well, okay, so a woman gets killed. But eight years later, maybe she’s not dead. And the cover ups. And the families that are linked. The power plays. The thugs. The lake. The beatings. But who beat who? The horses. Paris. The lesbians (of course!). A Versailles hospital. But one man, one doctor in fact, just really misses his wife and he wants her if she is still alive. But then, who is it that wants her dead if she is still alive? And why are the cops all so stupid? Except for one?

Oh, mes amis, it’s a web of treachery and racing against the clock and some very life threatening misunderstandings.

Every story idea from every whodunit you’ve ever seen is packed into this one. Did I mention raped orphans? Well, there are raped orphans, too. Why not!

If an art house nearby is playing this film and you’re sick of cribbage and the small screen, you might as well go see it. It’s August and it’s really quite a show for adults who can handle it. Superbly executed in every way. The story, well, if you have the mind for this kind of thing, which I clearly lack, you will just love the puzzle within the puzzle within the lie within the double crossing. Did I mention cut up faces and dead cats and dogs in ditches next to murder victims by a serial killer? Yeah, that, too. Woof. Meow. Screech.

Tell No One

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