Film Review
Immediately after driving French audiences and critics into a frenzy of
admiration with his flamboyant comedy portrayals - in such hit films as
Brice de Nice (2005) and
OSS 117: Le Caire nid d'espions
(2006) - Jean Dujardin comes down to earth with an almighty thud in
this bleak realist crime drama and shows that he can do far more than
make us laugh. The film itself is pretty mediocre, a
run-of-the-mill revenge thriller that looks as if it was made for the
small screen and offers little in the way of character depth and
narrative shocks. The presence of Dujardin, now France's biggest
star actor, and Laurent Lucas, another superlative screen actor,
beloved by auteur filmmakers, does however lift the film and gives it
far more bite than it perhaps merits.
Contre-enquête is the
first film to be directed by Franck Mancuso, a former French police
chief who had previously worked as a script consultant on the
long-running TV series
Commissaire
Moulin and Olivier Marchal's acclaimed 2004 policier
36 Quai des Orfèvres.
Mancuso draws on his hard earned professional experience (which
includes dealing with the most heinous of crimes, child rape and
murder) to give the film a tough, realist edge, although this is sadly
undermined by his superficial screenplay which relies far too much on
implausible plot contrivance. Mancuso's script (a loose
adaptation of a short story by Lawrence Block) lacks credibility at
crucial moments (notably the courtroom scenes and the dramatic ending),
and it is a testament to the skill of his actors that the shortcomings
in the screenwriting are so effectively masked.
Dujardin is superb as the respectable career cop who is confronted with
his worst nightmare and thereafter becomes consumed by an obsessive
quest for justice. The moral ambiguity of Dujardin's character is
cleverly matched by that of his cunning nemesis, an equally complex
individual played with immense subtlety by Laurent Lucas. Each
actor succeeds in bringing a fractured humanity and chilling mystique
to his portrayal, and at times it is unclear which of them is more
deserving of our sympathy. Whilst most of the plot runs on fairly
predictable lines, the final plot twist does come as something of a
surprise, not because it is necessarily far-fetched but because it
shows how badly we have misjudged Dujardin's character, or rather the
extent of his personal torment.
Contre-enquête
is not likely to win many awards for originality and at times its lack
of subtlety is laughable, but despite this it manages to hold our
attention and ultimately delivers a study in the black art of manipulation that
is genuinely disturbing.
© James Travers 2011
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Film Synopsis
Richard Malinowski is a hard-nosed police chief who thinks he has become
inured to violence. Nothing he has experienced in his career can
prepare him for the day when his nine-year-old daughter is raped and
killed. A fierce enquiry led by his colleagues soon results in
the arrest of a suspect, Daniel Eckmann. The evidence against
Eckmann is overwhelming and he is sent to prison for thirty
years. But Eckmann insists he is innocent and writes a letter to
Malinowski stating as much. Having taken consolation from the
fact that his daughter's killer is behind bars, Malinowski begins to
have second thoughts. What if Eckmann is innocent and the killer
is still at large? Malinowski seems to have no choice but to begin his
own investigation...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.