Well Deserved Praise

The greatest movie ever made..!

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

I very seldom give a 10 out of 10 in a movie, but this one fully deserves it.First at all, let's remember that this is a thriller, and thrillers are meant to have a plot full of surprises. Recently though, we have been witnesses to washed down versions of other washed down versions to the point that now almost everything that has a slightly out of the ordinary story and a murder or two becomes a "thriller".Not this one. This baby has lots of hard work and inventive. The actors are very believable and one thing I loved is the fact that the ones that are executives speak languages fluently. Seeing an actor in a non-comedy movie pretending to speak another language, and doing it poorly, simply kills the mood for the rest of the movie. But when the actor actually knows what he or she is doing, then it enhances the movie. One great example that comes to my mind is the opening sequence of Inglorious Basterds (sic). The other is this movie, where both costars are meant to be executives, and do both their French and English lines flawlessly.But the great work goes beyond that, because this is the type of movie that makes you think you had it all figured it out until it slaps you in the face with a better story. Of course, you will guess some stuff if you are not brain damaged, but you will also end up convinced of something just to see your little guessing work being thrown down the pipes. And that is a good thing because that is what a good thriller is meant to be.So, take these two advices I am giving you. First, it you like thrillers, watch this movie. And second, when you do watch it, either watch it alone or shut up so you don't look too silly in front of the rest of the spectators.

Damn, this started out great, with two devilishly sexy women feeling each others boundaries, and just as you think it's going to get steamy the man walks in and spoils not just the scene but the whole movie.It really went belly up from there. I don't know where it all went wrong, I guess in the directorial department. I was really disappointed by the acting of most involved, especially Ludivine Sagnier. Which was strange, as I've seen her do way better in other productions. Here she either has a blank stare or a very irritating way of overacting, none believable sobbing and laughable death stares directed at her senior college, Kristin Scott Thomas. Thankfully KST does play acceptable but I guess that's her experience and the fact she's just an allout great actress. Most of the male actors are also rubbish. To me this just reeks of lousy direction.Now the story. While played out quite nicely, is at the same time just way to simple. Without going into detail, it's all laid out to see and then later on, everything gets explained as well. The changes Sagnier's character goes through are so obvious it's sometimes almost cringeworthy. The suspense there is to be found, which is really hardly any, has no impact whatsoever if a character is just not believable and just does another, however sexy, blank stare into nothingness.No, I love French cinema for it's edge, realism, great acting and storytelling, but none of these are to be found here 3/10

Large, spacious offices with magnificent views, a cluster of seemingly enviably successful business people.Everything is elegant and stylish, clothes and furniture. Almost like a perfect place on earth. But, this is corporate world, thickly populated with useful sociopaths, the lucky ones that made their pathology not only acceptable, but highly profitable. Well, good for them, but not so good for us. Their ruthless and efficient lunacy, transformed our world into new gladiator arena. Survival of the sickest. No room for compassion or decency. Hence the famous mantra of the demonic new ruling class. It's not personal, it's business. Dangerous saying for dangerous times. A permit to maim and slaughter all who are less deserving, and that's everybody, except themselves.Because who works harder doing nothing useful as this coven of warlocks and witches. New horror for the new era.

In Love Crime, the French have taken Mike Nichols' Working Girl and turned it into a true thriller, not just a sociological study of corporate ambition and intrigue. Isabelle (Ludivine Sagnier) is the young executive in a large global corporation; Christine (Kristin Scott Thomas) is her boss and mentor. All's well while they love each other; not so when Christine usurps Isa's ideas without attribution in the name of collaboration.That first half, where the two execs jockey for success and independence, emphasizes shady but not lethal methods. When an unexpected plot twist changes the film into a more traditional thriller, the film is nonetheless fascinating as the protagonist makes her way through a maze created by herself and seemingly deadly for her career and her personal life.The late director, Alain Corneau, crafts the intrigue so as to allow his actors the widest scope for their talent, especially Sagnier, who goes from introverted neophyte to deadly colleague learning from her mentor the tricks necessary to break through the glass ceiling. Not so successful is Corneau with the police, who can't seem to get it right even the second time around.Typically French is the emphasis on Isabelle to be loved and Christine to be admired. The larceny that ensues can be traced to these driving emotions, and only the French can deconstruct them both and still produce an engrossing suspense.