I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Taking part in a poll on ICM on the best films of 2005,I started looking for French flicks from the year. Avoiding the movie due to the twee title,I was surprised to discover that the film was not a Romance,but a remake of 1978's Fingers (which I've not yet seen) that led to me catching up to the beat.The plot:Joining his dad Robert in business by beating up people who turn down deals,Thomas Seyr gets involved with pals Fabrice and Sami in setting up dodgy real estate deals. Becoming fully involved in a daily life of crime after his classical pianist mum died 8 years ago,Thomas is woken up when he crosses paths with his mums former manager,who asked Thomas if he has ever considered playing classical music,which makes Thomas play a new tune to his life.View on the film:Working as a director for hire, (producer Pascal Caucheteux wanted to do another remake after producing the US remake of Assault on Precinct 13) co-writer/(with Tonino Benacquista) director Jacques Audiard & cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine fluidly play Neo-Noir notes spun from up close,documentary-style "shaky" camera moves pushing the viewers nose into Thomas's grey and grime crime world. Backed by a warm score from Alexandre Desplat,Audiard finely tunes the darkness with shots of lights,as side shots of Thomas playing captures the notes in life Thomas is trying to hit,as his artistic dreams are plucked by the family life of crime.Changing the plot after co-writer Benacquista said he hated Fingers, (what a perfect choice to write the remake!)the writers wonderfully string Thomas as a loner in a constant search to find a place to fit in,with a Neo-Noir self-contempt making Thomas believe that he must follow his dad's footsteps. Focusing on the relationship between Thomas and music,the writers wonderfully contrast between the music hall lights that Thomas escapes to,with the vicious,daily grind of his Noir life of crime. Joined by a great support cast that includes Anton Yakovlev as Minskov and Mélanie Laurent as Minskov's Girlfriend, Romain Duris (who got taught by his sister to play the piano for the film) gives an excellent performance as Thomas,which flows with the dream optimism of a new life,which Duris grinds down with a nose to the grindstone suspicion from Thomas that a finally piece has been written for his life.

Jacques Audiard once again shows his mastery for exploring morally conflicted characters within a criminal world where the wicked succeed and the decent are thrown in the mud. In Read My Lips and A Prophet he gave us characters that tried to prevail in this world while still keeping their soul in tact, but here he does quite the opposite. Thomas Seyr doesn't try to prevail through crime; he treats it just like he would any other job. The real story for him, what he really strives toward, is becoming a pianist. This is such a beautiful and unique approach to this story and I knew almost instantly that I was going to get attached to this guy. When he's smashing windows and threatening people with a baseball bat, he stands almost in a daze, completely dulled by his surroundings as if it's just any other day. It's when he gets behind the piano that he comes alive, with all of the wonder and fear that comes with that.Actor Romain Duris and Audiard really make you feel every emotion that goes through Seyr during these scenes. The frustration when he gets something wrong, the anxiety when he's auditioning for a manager and the pure unadulterated bliss that comes when he just stops and lets his love for music flow over him. Audiard again proves his knack for beautifully staging certain scenes, this is shown in particular with all of the musical moments in the film. He also does this thing that he did in A Prophet where he distorts the image when some very beautiful moments are happening and it makes you take even more notice that something truly special is happening currently; be it for good or for bad. Everything with Seyr's love for the piano is what sold the film for me, but I thought that the romantic subplots were remarkable as well.Everything with his friend's wife was endlessly fascinating and let Audiard shed some great light onto themes of lust, betrayal, deceit and selfishness; the kind of possession and anarchy that can come with love. But what worked the most for me was the dynamic between Seyr and Miao Lin, his piano teacher who is also a Chinese immigrant that doesn't speak a word of French. The two of them together, thanks primarily to the performances from Duris and Linh Dan Pham, don't understand a word that the other is saying but somehow they are able to convey this kind of puppy-dog love that they slowly develop. Through the highs and lows of their dynamic they never understand a word that the other is saying but somehow they still know exactly what the other means. It's really beautiful to watch and further explores that theme of love that Audiard sets up to run underneath the whole story.The audition scene is staged extraordinarily and really hit me a lot emotionally, but what's even more impressive is how Audiard stages the final scene of the picture. Trying to talk about it could definitely veer into spoiler territory, so I'll avoid that just by saying that it was a moment made of palpable tension and Audiard really hammered this theme that the person you are sticks with you no matter what you try to do. You can escape your life, but the past will always come back and there are parts of you that can just never stayed bury forever. Somehow it will come back out.

"From Jacques Audiard, the acclaimed filmmaker," notes the DVD sleeve, "comes this haunting new thriller that fuses two unlikely worlds to create a stunning portrait of a young gangster. Romain Duris, in a standout performance, plays Tom, a 28-year-old who seems destined to follow in his father's footsteps as a Parisian property shark working in a sleazy and sometimes brutal world. However, a chance encounter with his late mother's music agent leads him to believe that he can become, like his mother, a concert pianist. In earnest, he starts preparing for the audition with the help of a beautiful, young virtuoso pianist who has just arrived from China. She doesn't speak a word of French; music is their only exchange. But pressures from the ugly world of his day job become more than he can handle…" Strange how this film has found its way into my hands before the original, US-made "Fingers" (1978), starring Harvey Keitel; more often, the American re-make of a French film predominates. Probably, the reason is that Mr. Audiard's version was immediately acclaimed as the latest work from a superior director. Re-titled "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" for English readers, this is a nicely performed character-driven crime drama. Twitching and quivering, Mr. Duris is especially memorable as the unhappy degenerate who yearns for respectability through musicianship. Unfortunately, the "shaky camera" technique gets out of hand sometimes, distracting during a couple of scenes; mostly, the wobbling stays in the realm of a sway or bounce - even when the characters are not, of course. C'est la vie.******* De battre mon coeur s'est arrete (2/17/05) Jacques Audiard ~ Romain Duris, Niels Arestrup, Linh-Dan Pham, Aure Atika

I generally like French films, but this one is not very good. I think the good reviews are from people who want it to be brilliant, but it is actually poorly written and lazily acted. The violent parts are not believable and the transitions to the poetic piano player are more pretentious than realistic. The lead actor seems to be overwhelmed with the idea of an artsy performance, so he uses the minimalist approach. The director complements this concept with a silly, pretentious style. Another problem is the music itself, namely the piano playing. The playing style is simply not in keeping with the supposed level of the piano player. Some of the supporting roles are quite good, but the parents simply don't measure up in terms of gravitas.