Roman de Gare
A successful writer (Fanny Ardent) is brought into a police station for questioning regarding two murders. Have her ghost writer’s threats to reveal his identity pushed her too far? And who exactly is her ghost writer? Could he be the escaped serial murderer that has set the media abuzz?
And what of his liaison with a loopy woman he picks up at a petrol station, late one night? Is she wandering artlessly into the trap of a killer? There are other characters of some importance, such as a wife whose husband has gone missing, and the police officer whom she consults about the matter, that all appear to be interconnected.
Claude Lelouch’s masterfully woven tale blurs the distinction between fact and fiction so often, that it’s hard to know which way is up. That the story is executed with such dry wit makes it all the more entertaining.
It’s great to see Dominique Pinon (Amelie; City of Lost Children) in a lead role, and, of course, Fanny Ardent is her typically spellbinding self on screen. Cinema new-comer Audrey Dana, who was featured in Claude Lelouch’s piece in Chacun Son Cinéma is charming as the ditzy country girl Huguette, who goes to extraordinary lengths to please her parents. Myrium Boyer (Un Coeur En Hiver) delivers a hilariously deadpan performance as Huguette’s imperturbable mother.
Although the ending lets the film down slightly, it is, for the main part, still worth watching this wry tale of deception and revenge. In addition to the intriguing story, the scenery, as the characters dash about Paris, the French countryside and even sail out to Cannes, is magnificent.
But will you be able to guess who’s who and what’s what before the film is up?