France, present day. A professional conman passes himself off as the boss of a construction site building a highway extension. He cons the whole region, hires dozens of workers and ... See full summary »
Alain Moreau sings for one of the few remaining dance-bands in Clermont-Ferrand. Though something of an idol amongst his female audience he has a melancholic awareness of the slow ... See full summary »
Director:
Xavier Giannoli
Stars:
Gérard Depardieu,
Cécile De France,
Mathieu Amalric
Cecile and Julien begin their new life together. Julien works long hours in a video library, a world full of pictures. Coming home late one night, he encounters a young, beautiful, ... See full summary »
Director:
Xavier Giannoli
Stars:
Ludivine Sagnier,
Nicolas Duvauchelle,
Bruno Todeschini
Thirteen-year-old Lou Bertignac is a gifted but lonely child. At high school she is already in fifth grade, two years ahead of the other students, but she has no friends. At home, she does ... See full summary »
When Jeff unexpectedly shows up on Ben's doorstep at 2am, the two buddies immediately fall into each other's arms. Since their college days, they've taken very different paths. Jeff is ... See full summary »
Director:
Yvan Attal
Stars:
François Cluzet,
Yvan Attal,
Laetitia Casta
The Art of Love (L'art d'aimer) is composed of several chapters following several Parisian couples. Isabelle (Julie Depardieu) has not had sex in a year. She declines an offer from her ... See full summary »
Paul and Charlotte are in love. Charlotte discovers she has a grave malady and Paul supports her. But Paul is also attracted to Ninon, another girl. Charlotte accepts Paul to have an affair... See full summary »
Director:
Xavier Giannoli
Stars:
Laura Smet,
Nicolas Duvauchelle,
Marie Denarnaud
France, present day. A professional conman passes himself off as the boss of a construction site building a highway extension. He cons the whole region, hires dozens of workers and cynically enjoys the profits of his scam until he meets the lady mayor of a small village that the road will go through. She intrigues and unsettles him, before revealing to him a world he never knew: feelings. How far will he go now to save his victims and save himself from his own lies? Written by
The Film Catalogue
According to director Xavier Giannoli an important civil works enterprise first proposed its help for finding a location, then abandoned. The movie was saved at the last minute by a civil-work material renter who proposed its help, its material and its workers to build the 2-km long where most of the film takes place. See more »
Goofs
While Philippe Miller runs across the construction area after the siren goes off, he falls on the ground and gets his right sleeve covered in mud. In the next shot when he has resumed running, the sleeve is clean again. See more »
Soundtracks
Deh non volerli vittime
and "Finale", from Opera "Norma"
Composed by Vincenzo Bellini
(1831)
Production and Copyright by Enja Records/M. Winckelmann GmbH See more »
Paul is a small-time crook, ripping off construction businesses by usurping identities and reselling equipment he acquires. His travels bring him to a small town where his false identity (Philippe Miller) brings hope that a stalled highway construction project will finally get underway and let the inhabitants get out of the financial crisis they are in.
Town folks and local companies are all too eager to trust this stranger who inadvertently brings hope and when they begin to talk numbers and even bribe him, Paul decides to seize this golden opportunity. At first, he is awkward in his Philippe Miller persona but quickly gains assurance.
This part of the story plays much like a false identity con, not unlike Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can. But lately, French cinema has excelled in portraying work, economic and social issues and this film is no exception. The more "Philippe" stays in town, the more he gets to know the people in this town, their hopes, dreams and their problems.
And so, the line begins to blur between Paul and Philippe, especially as the project itself takes life. Of course, suspicion arises every so often about whether "Philippe" is really who he pretends to be but are always rapidly squashed, because "at least, things are happening".
What is fascinating is to see almost the whole town, in a certain way, complicit with Paul's scam-turning-into-good-deed. Even Paul himself forgets about the easy money and becomes obsessed with finishing the highway project. We as viewers can't help but wonder if the townsfolk couldn't have made it happen by themselves had they had common will to do so.
The movie becomes less and less about a heist and more and more about project management by a man way over his head. The direction by Xavier Giannoli is tight, evocative and right on target. The amazing score by the underrated Cliff Martinez is perfect and beautiful, immersing us in this story that is part drama, part thriller. The entire cast was well chosen and all are believable but this is very much a film following lead actor François Cluzet, one of France's best actor who keeps on getting better and better even in his 50s now. Cluzet oozes charisma and could lead any big production.
People who enjoy thrillers such as the aforementioned Catch Me If You Can or dramas such as Up In the Air should have a great time watching this great film that tells an amazing and original story inspired by true events that took place in the 90s.
28 of 31 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Paul is a small-time crook, ripping off construction businesses by usurping identities and reselling equipment he acquires. His travels bring him to a small town where his false identity (Philippe Miller) brings hope that a stalled highway construction project will finally get underway and let the inhabitants get out of the financial crisis they are in.
Town folks and local companies are all too eager to trust this stranger who inadvertently brings hope and when they begin to talk numbers and even bribe him, Paul decides to seize this golden opportunity. At first, he is awkward in his Philippe Miller persona but quickly gains assurance.
This part of the story plays much like a false identity con, not unlike Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can. But lately, French cinema has excelled in portraying work, economic and social issues and this film is no exception. The more "Philippe" stays in town, the more he gets to know the people in this town, their hopes, dreams and their problems.
And so, the line begins to blur between Paul and Philippe, especially as the project itself takes life. Of course, suspicion arises every so often about whether "Philippe" is really who he pretends to be but are always rapidly squashed, because "at least, things are happening".
What is fascinating is to see almost the whole town, in a certain way, complicit with Paul's scam-turning-into-good-deed. Even Paul himself forgets about the easy money and becomes obsessed with finishing the highway project. We as viewers can't help but wonder if the townsfolk couldn't have made it happen by themselves had they had common will to do so.
The movie becomes less and less about a heist and more and more about project management by a man way over his head. The direction by Xavier Giannoli is tight, evocative and right on target. The amazing score by the underrated Cliff Martinez is perfect and beautiful, immersing us in this story that is part drama, part thriller. The entire cast was well chosen and all are believable but this is very much a film following lead actor François Cluzet, one of France's best actor who keeps on getting better and better even in his 50s now. Cluzet oozes charisma and could lead any big production.
People who enjoy thrillers such as the aforementioned Catch Me If You Can or dramas such as Up In the Air should have a great time watching this great film that tells an amazing and original story inspired by true events that took place in the 90s.