The Ax (2005)

A chemist (Garcia) loses his job to outsourcing. Two years later and still jobless, he hits on a solution: to genuinely eliminate his competition.

Director:

Costa-Gavras

Writers:

Donald E. Westlake (novel), Costa-Gavras (screenplay)

Stars:

José Garcia, Karin Viard, Geordy Monfils

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
José Garcia	...	Bruno Davert
Karin Viard	...	Marlène Davert
Geordy Monfils	...	Maxime Davert
Christa Théret	...	Betty Davert
Ulrich Tukur	...	Gérard Hutchinson
Olivier Gourmet	...	Raymond Machefer
Yvon Back	...	Etienne Barnet
Thierry Hancisse	...	Inspecteur Kesler
Olga Grumberg	...	Iris Thompson
Yolande Moreau	...	Préposée poste
Dieudonné Kabongo	...	Quinlan Longus (as Dieudonné Kabongo Bashila)
Jean-Pierre Gos	...	Garagiste
Vanessa Larré	...	Prédatrice
Serge Larivière	...	Inspecteur Police
Jeanne Savary	...	La présentatrice TV

Storyline

Bruno Davert, a chemist working for a paper company, is fired. After three years he's still unemployed, too much competition for the few job position he could fit in his sector. He sent tons of resumes, he attended many qualifying courses, he tried everything but there is nothing to do: no job for him in the industry. The only healthy company in the sector is "Arcadia", but joining it is just an impossible dream. At this point Bruno is desperate. What he could do: to kill all the competitors? Could he?

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Plot Keywords:

competition | outsourcing | contestant elimination | unemployment | son in jail | 

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Taglines:

Some people would die to get (him) this job. [Scandinavian DVD.]

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Belgium France Spain

Language:

French Dutch

Release Date:

2 March 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

The Ax

Filming Locations:

Boulevard Piercot, Liège, Liège Province, Belgium

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,428,352 (France), 4 March 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

K.G. Productions,StudioCanal,France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Visa d'exploitation en France: #110116

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Goofs

At the beginning, when Davert (Garcia) gets out of the shower and then immediately returns to the bathroom to vomit, you can see in the mirror that he is wearing an underwear.

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Quotes

Gérard Hutchinson: [When the interviewer abruptly ends the interview] I said to myself, lucky I didn't have the gun on me.

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Connections

References Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003)

User Reviews

Extremely funny

Maybe the best 'noir' movie I've seen in the last years, and definitively the best Donald Westlake adaptation so far, "Arcadia" is the story of a man obsessed with a job, who thinks that the only way to get it is killing every candidate who can be better than him, and must cope with his many mistakes and family problems. It sounds like a tragedy, or a drama, but it is the best piece of black (or not so black) humor combined with noir I remember, which is surprising: I didn't know that Costa-Gavras had so much sense of humor. There are many symbols, allegories, but above it all, it mentions every controversial and denounce topic in existence for just one, two or three minutes, just to mention it. The result is, incredibly and amazingly, funny, intellectually engaging, extremely suspenseful (the results of every situation and, at last, the end of the movie are unpredictable) and a master class of narrative progression, at least until the last 20 minutes, where the movie drags. But until then it is a flawless masterpiece, and it deserves to be watched over and over again. José García is another surprise, a very good comedian.