Ne le dis à personne (2006)

Director:

Guillaume Canet

Writers:

Guillaume Canet (writer)
Harlan Coben (novel)

Release Date:

1 November 2006 (Belgium)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

8 years ago, Alex's wife was MURDERED. Today... She e-mailed him.

Plot:

The pediatrician Alexandre Beck misses his beloved wife Margot Beck, who was brutally murdered eight years ago when he was the prime suspect...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | E Mail | Police | Death | Police Officer

Awards:

9 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

François Cluzet	...	Alexandre Beck
Marie-Josée Croze	...	Margot Beck
André Dussollier	...	Jacques Laurentin
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Hélène Perkins
François Berléand	...	Eric Levkowitch
Nathalie Baye	...	Maître Elysabeth Feldman
Jean Rochefort	...	Gilbert Neuville
Marina Hands	...	Anne Beck
Gilles Lellouche	...	Bruno
Philippe Lefebvre	...	Lieutenant Philippe Meynard
Florence Thomassin	...	Charlotte Bertaud
Olivier Marchal	...	Bernard Valenti
Guillaume Canet	...	Philippe Neuville
Brigitte Catillon	...	Capitaine Barthas
Samir Guesmi	...	Lieutenant Saraoui

Also Known As:

Tell No One (International: English title)

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | France:U | Ireland:15A | UK:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-15 | USA:Unrated | New Zealand:R16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Adainville, Yvelines, France

Company:

Les Productions du Trésor

Trivia:

Alex's dog is a Briard.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Early on in the film at a show jumping scene, the announcer says the video screen shows the rider winning at the European championships, but the video shows the rider jumping over jumps with the Olympic logo on them.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2008-07-19)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

For Your Precious Love

A solid, entertaining and mostly well-crafted thriller

Tell No-One turns out to be a rather good French thriller and a distinct improvement on actor-director Guillaume Canet's first directorial effort Mon Idole. The early overhead shots of a couple driving through the countryside summon up echoes of Red Lights, Harry, He's Here to Help/With a Friend Like Harry and The Vanishing in particular (though the film doesn't really match up to them, at least his influences are impeccable) as it sets up the back-story that sees Francois Cluzet's wife murdered. Fast forward eight years and the good doctor is still suspected by the police, especially when two bodies are unearthed near the murder scene that threaten his alibi. And then there's an email he receives with what looks like live footage of his very much alive wife...

There's a good supporting cast - a mostly excellent Andre Dussolier as the antagonistic father-in-law, Jean Rochefort showing once again that he's a much better actor when he doesn't dye his hair to look younger, Nathalie Baye as a razor-sharp lawyer, 36 Quai des Orfevres director Olivier Marchal as a vicious hood and even a less-autopilot-than-usual Kristin Scott-Thomas (maybe she should just stick to French-language parts?) - and it's a surprise to see Luc Besson's Europa films making something so bourgeois that doesn't involve free-running or martial arts for a change, although there is one excellent chase sequence and a vicious female thug to keep his core constituency happy.

If it has a problem - apart from one credulity-straining moment near the end regarding motivation that isn't so much a plot-hole as the Channel Tunnel - it's that at the end of the day, it's JUST a thriller. There aren't enough lingering questions throughout the movie or any real attempt to create doubt as to whether the hero may really have murdered his wife as the police and media still suspect. The twists are satisfying enough but no great revelations, and it's a disappointment that it finds itself forced into an Irving-the-Explainer ending where the plot is explained at gunpoint. Yet despite the lack of depth, it's a satisfyingly well-executed thriller, and if that's enough for you, you could do a lot worse with two hours of your time. Oh yes, and the eagle-eyed can spot one of French producer Christophe Rossingnon's sporadic blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameos as a cop.