In this highly watchable crime-thriller-whodunit, adapted from the best selling novel by Harlan Coben, paediatrician Dr Alexandre Beck (François Cluzet) is still grieving for his murdered wife Margot (Marie-Josie Croze). Out of the blue he receives an e-mail showing Margot apparently alive and well but warning him to “Tell no one” that she has made contact. When two further bodies are discovered at the place of Margot’s death, the police reopen the case. An ingenious plot with excellent performances set in contemporary Paris, the suspense and pace of the chase are maintained throughout. (Cert 15)
Dir: Guillaume Canet 125 mins France 2006
Programme Notes
Thursday 29 January 2009
TELL NO ONE
(Ne le dis à personne)
France 2006, 125 mins
“Tell No One will play as a terrific thriller for you, if you meet it halfway. You have to be willing to believe” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times
This is the second film by actor/ director Guillaume Canet, his first being Danny Boyle’s The Beach. He has adapted it from the novel by Harlan Coben, and transferred it from the mean streets of New York to Paris. Eight years after the murder of his wife, the Parisian paediatrician Dr Alexandre Beck receives an e-mail from her, which commences a chain of events and the reopening of the murder investigation, in which he is a chief suspect. The plot is fast-moving and complex. The backdrop of the city of Paris takes us from impoverished tenements to the higher echelons of society, portraying the diversity of the city.
The excellent cast ranges from François Cluzet, who bears a passing resemblance to Dustin Hoffman (circa Marathon Man), Kristin Scott Thomas (marvellous, as always, in a French speaking role) to Gilles Lellouche (Bruno), and Canet himself as the powerful senator’s son.
The plot will leave you breathless trying to unravel the (unresolved?) ending.
NF
Alexandre Beck – François Cluzet
Margot Beck – Marie-Josée Croze
Jacques Laurentin – André Dussollier
Hélène Perkins – Kristin Scott Thomas
Gilbert Neuville – Jean Rochefort
Bruno – Gilles Lellouche
Eric Levkowitch – François Berléand
Director – Guillaume Canet
Screenplay – Guillaume Canet, Philippe Lefebvre
Novel – Harlan Coben
Cinematography – Chnstophe Offenstein
Original Music – Mathieu Chedid
Producer – Alain Atlal
Editor – Hervé de Luze
Comments
“Very good”
“Très bien!”
“Brilliant!”
“Excellent, enthralling”
“Martin – this week, don’t tell us what we thought – tell us what happened!”
“French sophistication – I loved it. Great pace, funny and tense.”
“Enjoyed it very much. Loved the music and the French atmosphere – je ne sais quoi!”
“Totally gripping – very good music”
“A bit hard to follow at times but, really, it was a story about the love of two fathers and the lengths to which they would go to protect their children. Would you (go as far)? I probably would!”
“A truly fascinating and very complicated Who Dunnit with a fabulous ending.”
“Echoes of Dustin Hoffman (post The Graduate) and The Fugitive. Enthralling and beautifully filmed.”
“Terrific tripe but well done – gripping. Best thing Dustin Hoffman’s done in years!”
“A PhD in Plotology would’ve been useful but very well constructed and realistic.”
“Confusing but gripping”
“Eh? What? Bewildering plot but some really classy moments”
“Très compliqué. I need a large Gordon’s after (all) that tension!”
“Trop compliqué!”
“Well done but far too over-complicated.”
“Very suspenseful and convoluted, like all Harlan Coben’s plots. I thought the dénouement rather weak – telling the whole story in one go. Good twist at the end.”
“Amazing chase sequence. Confusing plot, when one did not understand who was who – the twists and corruptions were somewhat unbelievable.”
“Superb and gripping but a bit much!”
“Gripping but complex – need to see it five more times!”
“Not sure I followed all the twists but an engrossing film.”
“So many twists and turns, I could not keep up – but I wish I could run like Alexandre!”
“Quite engrossing but difficult to follow. Too many confusing red herrings.”
“Thank goodness for the last 10mins! Up till then, I was confused, to say the least. However, an enjoyable film overall.”
“Yes, it was a thriller but with so many flaws. Wasn’t it convenient that Bruno was there to help at the critical moment? Just a bit OTT.”
“I didn’t follow the borrowed bit-part appearance of the deer from The Queen.”
“Very nearly too clever by half (but) saved by being French! Good performance by François Cluzet.”
“Fairly wooden central character; several other parts very lazily stereotyped; plot absurd. Apart from that, an excellent movie – an Oscar for the focus puller! Let’s have more like this!”
“The appalling last 15mins were redeemed only by the multi-car pile-up in the middle (of the film). In those last 15mins, I kept thinking it couldn’t get any worse!”
“I was sure, right at the end, that someone would burst out of the bushes – to arrest her for wasting police time!”