Review: Tell No One (2008)

Tell No One (2008)

This is one fine thriller out of France. My only regret is missing its theatrical run last winter. Now it is out on DVD, and one of last year’s most acclaimed films is available to absorb a couple hours of your well-spent time.

The way in which the central puzzle fits together is one of the film’s greatest strengths so I don’t want to give too much of it away. For the sake of this review, however, I will summarize the initial setup. A man’s wife is murdered under mysterious circumstances (as if there are any other kind in thriller plotlines), and eight years later he receives emails from a person claiming to be her. Fear not, this isn’t A Haunting in France.

Francois Cluzet plays Alexandre Beck, the still-grieving husband. It is interesting to note that if you flip the “re” around in Mr. Beck’s first name, you have a pretty snappy name for an American protagonist. The French are learning. Cluzet does very well with the part. He looks athletic enough to accomplish the necessary feats, yet looks average enough to be identifiable. The rest of the cast also does a fine job, but the list of characters is so huge that I don’t have the patience to go through them all. Some might recognize Kristin Scott Thomas in one of the lead roles. Who knew she spoke French?

There is an excellent chase scene halfway through the film. Alex must play Frogger with freeway traffic in order to escape the law. The sequence is expertly shot, using high angle single-shot perspectives to give the audience a wide view of the tense action. This technique proves far more effective than the quick edits and close-ups that might be used by a less experienced director.

The film does get bogged down by its own convolution in the final act. There are too many plot threads that require extraneous rationalization and some of the answers are a little too absurd to fully satisfy the film’s phenomenal set up. The film remains engaging and interesting, however, and everything is answered for. It is easy to recommend this film to anyone who likes a good thriller; it lives up to the hype of being one of the best of 2008.

Professor P