Counter Investigation

Contre-Enquete is the prime example of a movie that is not really well directed, but that is carried on by his actors. If you like your direction tight and extensive, this is not a movie for you.

You seldom feel rushed into the action, the scenes are too short and everything happens in the same time, which makes it difficult to get attached to the characters. In its first twenty minutes, the movie out pours a lot of emotional scenes that comes out as being cheesy because...well the movie is just starting! Nobody really cares about the characters yet.

But there is all the bad I have to say. The odyssey of a broken down father to find the true murderer of his daughter is a gripping tale that has Jean Dujardin and Laurent Lucas as their shining stars. Their play is subtle, tight and leaves the viewer in a total state of confusion towards the potential ending of the movie.

It could have been a landslide due to its predictability and its sloppiness, but Dujardin and Lucas made this an overall rather enjoying experience.

First "writers_reign" the script is not an adaptation of a novel written by Robert Bloch but by Lawrence Block, also author of "Eight million ways to die" adapted by Hal Ashby. Having said this the movie itself offers a good and unusual performance by Jean Dujardin and a new great one by Laurent Lucas. Franck Mancuso being an ex cop is certainly in a better place that anyone to know about police procedures and does a good job for his first directorial task. It's also great to see a cameo by the late Jean-Pierre Cassel. So, in the end it's a tight (the movie is approx 75mn long) crime drama that don't relies on car chases or gunfights. French thrillers still can be made these days.

Aside from the simple fact of watching Jean Dujardin in a straight drama, and not a comedy of one variety or another, there are a few bits and pieces that catch one's attention in no time at all. One is the curtness of the pacing in terms of plot development, contrasted with the weirdly lax pacing we see in small moments such as the camera watching characters walking (just walking) for longer than is necessary. There's also the somewhat clunky or even blockheaded dialogue and scene writing that could be copied and pasted to or from countless other films or TV shows about hard-headed cops. I would also argue that the direction, acting, sound design, and a fair bit of the writing at large are characterized by a distinct bluntness, and perhaps heavy-handedness. None of this is to say that 'Contre-enquête' (also known as 'Counter investigation') can't be enjoyable and worthwhile on its own merits, yet in the very least we'll need to look for something to help it stand apart from its brethren, and these factors may also serve to place upper limits on one's engagement.

I claim no familiarity with Lawrence Block's novel, and I can't say I specifically know writer-director Franck Mancuso. Maybe I'm too jaded or cynical to fully appreciate this, or maybe I'm just not on the same wavelength. One way or another, it strikes me that the narrative feels rather loosely threaded together; there are particular elements of the story as it presents, but the connections between them are weak, less than believable, and/or clearly the invention of fiction rather than a discrete reach for verisimilitude. I refer above all to the dual focus on not just father and policeman Richard but also convicted suspect Daniel, but even other facets like Richard's ongoing investigation seem troubled to me, and less than entirely cohesive. Yes, all these aspects do in fact tie together, and I'm certainly not saying that the movie as we see it is "bad," but it comes across as fitting together Just So, a matter of Movie Magic, and is less than wholly convincing. At the same time, it also comes off in some measure as a crime drama by numbers: all the parts are here on paper, but it lacks the passion, punch, or genuine excitement to make any of it count.

To be clear, I do actually like 'Contre-enquête.' I think it's broadly well made, with illustration of capable skill in all regards. I don't agree with all the choices that were made, but I recognize able craftsmanship in the cinematography, editing, acting, and production design, not to mention hair and makeup; Mancuso's direction is fine from a technical standpoint, and again, in general terms I think all the ingredients are present in the screenplay for a solid crime drama. The overall plot is excellent. Still, when one gets down to it the minutiae of the picture, and the details of the execution, feel rough, brusque, inchoate, ill-fitting, and/or the product of Cookie Cutter formulations. At best the feature is unremarkable; at its most deficient, we kind of have to just accept it at face value and leave it at that. I appreciate the work that everyone put into it, and I'd like to see more of what all involved are capable of. I also think this title would have quite benefited from even the slightest injection of vitality into the drama, for the evenhanded tone does it no favors; a more delicate hand in the writing, in the direction, and in other capacities would have helped the drama to land more smoothly, and be more impactful. Such as it is I think it's a decent enough way to spend eighty-five minutes if one comes across it, but this is nothing one needs to go out of their way to see. 'Contre-enquête' is okay, and sometimes that's all a movie needs to be, but that does mean it's hard to be especially enthusiastic about it.

Quoting from another reviewer : "This is one of those cases that if it had a different production, it would have make it BIG TIME. And that's a real shame because this little piece of french tape is a lesson of good film-making and the fact that it didn't get much of recognition and visibility left it forgotten".

It's a small budget production, so don't expect expensive action scenes and overall, anything similar. CI is a good crime/thriller relying upon its actors and the story. It's not a movie that will make you hold your breath, but it's very interesting all the way until the ending, it's clever and the ending was strong. It's "tight", not a second wasted, it has nothing to do with a fun flick, it will make you sad, so if you're looking for pure entertainment or a violent and dumb revenge film, watch something else.

This is "cerebral", meticulously written and it's rewarding. Not because the ending is satisfying, it's neither satisfying or unsatisfying. But anyone who wants to watch a good crime/thriller, CI is a good choice.

Jean Dujardin plays "Richard Malinowski", a model cop and family man in this film loaded with famous actors like J. P. Cassel, Aurélien Recoing and J. F. Garreaud. Beautiful Caroline Santini plays the unknowing victim of a psychopath so well you can't forget her case easily. Visually beautiful, great music, a rather classic/ conventional plot in the beginning, but the movie doesn't deliver if you know how to wait.

Claire M., the long-suffering wife of our main character, could've been better developed, following instead the well trodden lines of the "wife that doesn't understand the hero, leaves him at the worst moment, is cold and always complaining". I'd expect a better leading female character, at least in a film made in 2007.

What I most liked is the cop culture of fellowship, even when they know what their "brothers in arms" are up to. They protect each other. For good or for bad :).

Enjoy!

PS: To the fellow IMDb reviewer "kosmasp": Yes, Dujardin is very well known in France, he's always at Cannes, having just won the best actor prize there with the beautiful film "L'Artiste" with Bérénice Bejo, for instance.