Film review length = 1/(fun + quality)
In English: The more a film is entertaining and well made, the less there is to say about it. It’s a strange phenomenon, to be sure, and by no means is it always true. Still, when film reviews are restricted by the need to avoid spoiling the movie, there comes a point when a movie is too good to do anything other than rave about it. And what does raving do? It offers descriptions of the film that are often best left for viewers to experience in a state of tabula rasa. It creates hype – hype that can just as easily destroy a great film or give lesser fare an undeserving golden sheen. (Think of “The Dark Knight.”) Sometimes, it’s a case of just wanting to say, “This is a wonderful film. Trust me. Go see it, then come back and we’ll talk about it.”
Why the Intricate Puzzle Works
So what am I to do with “Tell No One,” a French film based on a novel by American novelist Harlan Coben? There are enough superlatives to choose from: Hitchcockian, pitch-perfect, edge-of-your-seat, gritty, taut. All would be appropriate. The film’s mystery unfolds gradually, with clue piling upon clue until the remarkably robust bigger picture comes into focus. It’s enough to draw on familiar mechanical analogies; the clock, the well-oiled engine. With all the sordid, heart-wrenching splendour of a “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” revelation, “Tell No One” is the intricate puzzle made riveting and meaningful by characters with a down-to-earth humanity. As Alex (Cluzet), a pediatrician, finds the belief that his wife was murdered eight years ago challenged by a strange video showing her to be alive, he is drawn into a conspiracy that sees him yet again the prime suspect in her death. If the synopsis sounds a tad familiar, like one of those “man on the run” deals, it’s worth remembering that the mystery, the drama, everything about a film often stems, not from its premise, but in how it develops and carries out that premise. “Tell No One” has all the craft of the best murder mysteries and suspense thrillers.
Francois Cluzet is a particularly appealing protagonist, tuning his performance to embody his character’s emotional state without self-consciously drawing attention to the performance itself. The same applies to the rest of the cast. But in a film that could easily be praised for its substance while its style is neglected, Guillaume Clauzet’s direction displays a marked sophistication beneath its seemingly unassuming presentation.
With a focus on the naturalistic rather than the splashy, this is the kind of film that takes potentially melodramatic material and, foregoing the James Bond route, delivers a Bourne Identity. “Tell No One” is enthralling in the way it creates the illusion that we’re witnessing actual events involving complex, visceral people. While the cinematography mostly supports the performances rather than competes with them, Clauzet certainly goes beyond the workman-like to deliver some beautiful moments that touch, ever so slightly, on the symbolic – flashbacks to Alex and his wife Margot (Corze) as childhood sweethearts, for example. And that’s just the tip of it. With Frederik’s Law starting to kick in again, all I can say, without ruining the film, is that “Tell No One” is the kind of film that elegantly balances the cerebral and the emotional, the harrowing and the hopeful, and lingers long after the screen fades to black.
Entertainment Value: ** (out of two)
Technical Quality: ** (out of two)
Gold star awarded!
Tell No One. Written by Canet and Harlan Coben, based on Coben's novel. Directed by Guillaume Canet. Starring Francois Cluzet, Marie-Josee Crose, Kristin Scott Thomas, Andre Dussolier, Francois Berleand and Jean Rochefort. In French, with English subtitles. 125 minutes. No MPAA rating.
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