A Crime (2006)

Vincent's life is on hold until he finds his wife's killer. Alice, his neighbor, is convinced she can make him happy. She decides to invent a culprit, so that Vincent can find revenge and leave the past behind. But there is no ideal culprit and no perfect crime.

Director:

Manuel Pradal

Writers:

Tonino Benacquista (scenario), Manuel Pradal (scenario)

Stars:

Harvey Keitel, Emmanuelle Béart, Norman Reedus

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harvey Keitel	...	Roger Culkin
Emmanuelle Béart	...	Alice Parker
Norman Reedus	...	Vincent Harris
Joe Grifasi	...	Bill
Lily Rabe	...	Sophie
Kim Director	...	Ashley
Brian Tarantina	...	Joe
Patrick Collins	...	Ben
Chuck Cooper	...	Will
Clem Cheung	...	Li Huang
Jonathan Lam	...	Baby-Face
Ted Koch	...	Scott
Natalie Caron	...	Jenny
Ben Wang	...	Chinese man
Stephen Payne	...	Mark

Storyline

While returning home after fixing the lights of a billboard, the worker Vincent Harris passes by a taxi with a damage door panel. When Vincent arrives home, he finds his wife murdered on the floor of the living room. He claims that the driver was wearing a red jacket and a ring with a large stone. Three years later, he lives in Brooklyn but is still chasing the killer of his wife. His dysfunctional neighbor Alice Parker has a crush on him, but Vincent is haunted by the ghosts of his past. When Alice meets the cab driver Roger Culkin out of the blue, she seduces him, damages his taxi and gives a red jacked and a ring to him. Then she forces him to meet Vincent, inventing a culprit to release Vincent from his past and stay with her.

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Plot Keywords:

sex | female nudity | taxi driver | broken mirror | taxi | 

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Taglines:

The victim could be anyone

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, language and some violence

Did You Know?

Goofs

Alice open Vincent's apartment door with a key but a closer shot shows, when the door closes, that the lock uses a magnetic card like in hotels.

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Connections

Referenced in JCVD (2008)

User Reviews

Excellent thriller in the tradition of Henri-Georges Clouzot and René Clément

Some people might have two problems with the film: 1. It's rather old fashioned (which is a good thing in my opinion, I don't like the regular hyped mainstream trash). The plot is the kind of story that could come from a novel of Patricia Highsmith, and the look of the film is more like it's from the late 70's or early 80's. 2. The pretty complex story with a lot of strange (and maybe) almost unbelievable coincidences. And you don't get a simple positive character for identification. Exact the same way many french thrillers from the good old times were working (especially those of Clouzot). Though sometimes these films seem a bit too over-constructed (and I must admit I had this problem when I first saw Clouzot's "Les Diaboliques", 1955). But when you accept this (and life itself sometimes surprises us with strange coincidences too), you will see an excellent, very emotional thriller with great performances. You'll never know what happens next!

Details

Country:

France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 October 2006 (France)

Also Known As:

Un crime

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$371,139

Company Credits

Production Co:

ARP Sélection, Alice Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1