Excellent film. I'd never heard of the book it's based on. The movie does have the kind of complex characters that are more associated with novels than with cinema.
It's Hitchcockian to some extent - its premise is a classic "wrong-man" scenario, with suspense, humour and chase sequences. But the de rigeur romantic element here is, for the most part, tinged with a strange melancholy , and it's this that gives the film such an unusual atmosphere.
Leading man François Cluzet is probably weary of being compared to Dustin Hoffman, but the fact is there is more than a passing resemblance. Nevertheless, Cluzet is very much his own man, and is as good, if not better, than the Hoffman of, say, 'Marathon Man', which inevitably comes to mind as one watches Cluzet taking to his heels in the breathless, breathtaking chase sequence.
Although Cluzet carries the movie, the rest of the cast, which contains a number of very distinguished French actors, is first-rate.
The plot is full of twists and turns, and the story-telling full of time-jumps, so you really need to concentrate. I'll need to get the DVD to check I understood it right.
All in all, it's an excellent edge-of-your-seat thriller: a splendid, somewhat scary, night out at the movies.
It's Hitchcockian to some extent - its premise is a classic "wrong-man" scenario, with suspense, humour and chase sequences. But the de rigeur romantic element here is, for the most part, tinged with a strange melancholy , and it's this that gives the film such an unusual atmosphere.
Leading man François Cluzet is probably weary of being compared to Dustin Hoffman, but the fact is there is more than a passing resemblance. Nevertheless, Cluzet is very much his own man, and is as good, if not better, than the Hoffman of, say, 'Marathon Man', which inevitably comes to mind as one watches Cluzet taking to his heels in the breathless, breathtaking chase sequence.
Although Cluzet carries the movie, the rest of the cast, which contains a number of very distinguished French actors, is first-rate.
The plot is full of twists and turns, and the story-telling full of time-jumps, so you really need to concentrate. I'll need to get the DVD to check I understood it right.
All in all, it's an excellent edge-of-your-seat thriller: a splendid, somewhat scary, night out at the movies.