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Created Jul 23, 2008 03:08AM PST • Edited Dec 01, 2018 10:23PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Really Great 4.5

   This terrific thriller is slyly engaging at the outset, then tremendously tense and intriguing for the duration, the sort of movie that has you intensely talking about it – working through the twists and turns – after leaving the theater.

   French heartthrob Guillaume Canet is to be commended for writing the screenplay from the American novel of the same name, then directing it and even co-starring in it. The guy is a triple threat.

   It is easy to imagine that a smart Hollywood producer will make an American version of this originally American story, though it is hard to imagine it being any better than this French treat.

4. Acting

   Great 4.0

   Terrific cast across the board. Noted French actor François Cluzet ably anchors the movie as a profoundly put-upon husband and doctor who can never seem to pick up the pieces after being accused of his wife’s murder.

   The only well known face to American audiences is Kristin Scott Thomas, plenty serviceable in a supporting role.

   For fans of French cinema, an appearance by Nathalie Baye is always welcome. She still has the ability to light up the screen, here playing a crafty defense attorney.

5. Male Stars Really Great 4.5

6. Female Stars Great 4.0

7. Female Costars Great 4.0

8. Male Costars Great 4.0

10. Film

    Really Great 4.5

    Like all great movies, no shot ends up being superfluous: what seems innocuous at first later becomes key to the plot. Masterful.

11. Direction Really Great 4.5

12. Play Really Great 4.5

    Great story, well told. Based on the Harlan Coben novel of the same name.

13. Music Great 4.0

14. Visuals Perfect 5.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 1.9

17. Sex Titillating 2.0

18. Violence Fierce 2.0

19. Rudeness Salty 1.7

21. Reality

    Glib 1.1

    One or two plot twists still escape me. For instance, how did Margot and Alex get seats next to each other for the flight to Buenos Aires? Plus, the cyber-snooping seemed a bit far fetched. But these are quibbles. The movie is admirably grounded in reality for such a convoluted thriller.

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.4

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0