Reviews by johanlefourbe

Nowadays, I have Netflix and Popcorn and not only I have since then an endless selection or movies to choose from but, as a result, I have became slightly more picky regarding the movies I watch. Before, I used to watch pretty much anything as long as it was starring one or two actors I was interested in and, as a result, I would sometimes end up watching some really obscure features. This movie was a perfect example and the only reason I watched it was because it was featuring Sandrine Bonnaire and Catherine Frot. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but, basically, it was one of those typical French thrillers. Indeed, there was no chase, shootings or explosions like you would get in your average Hollywood thriller and it was more based on the mood and the characters like those good old thrillers directed by Hitchcock. Furthermore, Catherine Frot and Sandrine Bonnaire were both quite convincing and they gave some solid performances. Unfortunately, even though the story was very intriguing and kept me on the edge of my seat, the end, on the other hand, turned out ot be rather weak. Indeed, there was a very annoying and disappointing twist at the end and it kind of ruined the whole thing for me and the fact that they added the note 'based on a true story' didn't help whatsoever. Anyway, to conclude, even though it turned out to be a rather underwhelming thriller, I thought it was well made and it is still worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick, I thought I should check it out. Eventually, the whole thing was another example of my theory that you shouldn't know too much before watching a movie. In this case, if you would know what it was about before watching the movie, the first 30 minutes would have been then completely useless. Thankfully, I didn't know anything about the damned thing and, thanks to this lack of information, it created a compelling ominous atmosphere. Of course, I knew that something fishy was going on but I never sure knew what it was exactly, at least, during the first 30 minutes. Somehow, it did remind me of Hitchock in the way the suspense was slowly built up and the beginning was indeed rather slow but I thought it was quite efficient. To be honest, the performances were rather poor but it was a good thing that the characters were portrayed by some unknown actors (except for one I have seen before but he was not a big star whatsoever) and it enhanced the feeling of gloominess and hopelessness which dominated this flick. To conclude, even though it was probably not a masterpiece, I thought it was an original and interesting thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood, I was quite eaget to check it out. Well, even though it turned out to be a decent watch, to be honest, I was actually still rather underwhelmed by the whole thing. Basically, it was one of those quirky indie comedies which try to be clever, funny and, well, quirky but, eventually, the end-result was, in my opinion, stupid, pathetic and honestly, rather boring. It's too bad because the 2 main characters were actually really interesting. Indeed, Evan Rachel Wood delivered, as usual, a solid performance but Michael Douglas was even better and the guy really stole the show. This actor has become famous for usually playing the same type of character, the arrogant, confident and powerful SOB and he does it very well. However, this time around, he went for something completely different, some kind of psychologically deranged person, he did it so well and he completely disappeared behind the character. To conclude, even though I thought the whole thing was rather disappointing, I still think it is worth a look though if only to check Michael Douglas's fine performance.