I was hooked from the start. No doubt there were plot holes, but I didn't care. Romain Duris is so convincing in the role of a man whose life spirals out of control. Only an actor of his calibre can take you along on a journey that is sometimes so realistic that I found myself holding my breath and sometimes almost unbelievable, but it's always compulsive viewing. The story of what he does to try and regain control of his life makes this a great thriller.
shareI agree it was a great performance by Duris but the screenplay let him down.
I did enjoy the first 20 minutes or so and was wondering what was going to happen next but from then on it just went from bad to worse to the absolutely ridiculous.
"Plot holes" is a very kind way of describing a story that is utterly unbelievable and wholly unrealistic. I wouldn't have been surprised if some aliens had suddenly popped out of nowhere halfway through.
It's watchable but unconvincing.
I agree with 'TheSummer2012.' Duris is always fabulous, especially here, but the story went from an interesting exploration of a troubled marriage to the nonsensical.
*SPOILERS*
Paul is supposed to be a lawyer so why doesn't he report what was essentially an accident? It's doubtful he would have to do much time. Even if he got convicted of manslaughter isn't it preferable to faking your own death and having your children believe you're dead. What kind of life can he have living on a dead man's identity? Sooner or later it will be discovered that Grégoire is dead, probably by Paul's ex-wife asking questions. I kept expecting Sarah to show up at the gallery opening.
It was very convenient how Paul suddenly began taking expert photos while in Eastern Europe. I realize he must have studied photography in school, but he obviously hadn't practiced in a while. It was pretty contrived how Bartholomé happened to be a photo editor and was able to get Paul work. Suddenly Paul was living the life he always dreamt of, becoming famous and able to negotiate with the gallery owner.
Still, what was the point of all this? Paul goes to all this trouble just so his kids won't think of him as a 'murderer?' Seems like it would have been simpler just to give himself up and deal with the consequences.
"And all the pieces matter"
i concur. it started as a very good movie, 1 of best ive seen dis yr and then it just went downhill from there.
i too, thought a grate plot wud be him bumpin in2 his wife but dat never happpened
rite bout when he got on ship, it went totally downhill. when he yelled out at those guyz, i wuz like wtf. no reason watsoever and surely hez gonna get it
and then da endin i guess 2 continue dis charade wid a diff person ala Saw, its like eh, not clever at all.
Werd 2 ur mudda, bruddafcker
I agree his sudden ascent as a star photographer was hard to believe: a newspaper paying to print his photos, a gallery agreeing to his terms, an international curator flying out to the opening show in an eastern European country and offering him global exposure...it was like a fairy tale.
But, in fairness, he seemed to me to be a keen photographer beforehand. He had all the kit and one scene shows him sat in front of two monitors looking at photos he had taken and printed, so I think he was actively taking photos the whole time. The whole point though is that he hadn't found his vision and wasn't putting his soul into his photos, that he needed to get back to basics etc (which is a cliche as well).
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I've read a couple of books by the author Douglas Kennedy now - and both books accentuate the fickleness and just plain "luck" involved even with "talent". "The Big Picture" concerned photography (and writing - as his wife wrote 3 books that almost but couldn't quite get published - and during the '90's (but not now and the world of Amazon/Inet self-publishing) without a publisher it didn't matter HOW good your books really were...no fortune nor fame and ego building could occur.)
The other book was "Temptation" and concerned a struggling LA screenwriter who FINALLY gets one of his scripts accepted and produced as a "straight-to-production" TV series and it becomes wildly successful. Then an eccentric billionaire who THINKS he is a screenwriter decides to ruin his life. A slightly better (fewer logical plot holes) than both "The Big Picture" book and the French adaption and rewrite. And a better (happier for the protagonist) ending, as well.
I agree. I enjoyed this tremendously. Paul's desperation was palpable through the screen once he knew what he had to do. That was no doubt due to Romain Duris's acting. I couldn't have stopped the ride of watching this if I tried.
Many people mention plot holes and implausibility issues with this movie. Neither were a concern for me either because the ultimate draw of this film is that a character finds himself in an impossible situation that must be dealt with one way or another. It was fantastic, and I'd watch it again.
But "what's the point"?
I thought immediately after viewing the absurdities - OK another French leftist anti-"boorzhwa" (you know -Middle class ;-) movie - since the successful lawyer was despised by his wife who preferred the "artistic" male over a hard-working man who actually loved his children and provided a nice home for them...
but then I thought - this is really a PRO-Bourgeois movie! As being part of the underclass AND artistic really sucks, anyway. He should have divorced his ungrateful and shallow wife, written off his kids (I mean, really - why bother with them and their hateful mother? Why care at all they learned he was a killer???) accepted sole ownership of their successful business, and enjoyed his money and all the nice(r) ladies of Paris. It's not like his wife was all that, anyway.
So the point of the movie was - don't be an idiot!