Des chiens dans la neige

A most unusual movie: an unpredictable thriller. A naive but resourceful woman is caught up in a cat-and-mouse game with gangsters because of her husband's indiscretions with women and money. Fortunately for her, the mobsters underestimate her guile and resolve as she uses every weapon available - including her considerable charm - against them. Not an action piece but a twisty melodrama, reminiscent somewhat of classic noir, without the pretensions and absurdities of most neo-noir. Marie-Josée Croze is moody and beautiful as is the photography by Yves Belanger. Glad to see this fine Canadian movie available for general purchase now after being available in the States only via Film Movement. (I suppose now we'll see a remake with Ashley/Sandra/Meg Judd/Bullock/Ryan.)

Poor Lucie (Marie-Josée Croze), her husband (Antoine Lacomblez) is going on and on about his affair, and she finally picks up something and hits him. I was ready to kill him at that point.

Unfortunately she doesn't know what to do next, and there is someone (Jean-Philippe Écoffey) knocking on the door wanting the money her husband stole from his boss (Romano Orzari).

Lucie is a bit out of her element, heck she is way out of her element, and makes one bad decision after another. Somehow it works out for her.

Crose was very good in this film, and it was exciting until the very end.

This Canadian French language thriller is one of the best thrillers I've seen lately. The first 20 minutes or so had me absolutely glued to the television. A husband and wife (Antonie and Lucie) have a terrible argument which results in Lucie smashing Antonie's skull and killing him, and hiding him in the bathtub. Scared and not knowing what to do, she takes off in her car. Meanwhile, a gangster (Ruben) shows up at their apartment looking for Antonie because he owes a big time gangster some money he stole. Ruben finds Antonie dead, and waits for Lucie to return. When she does, and Ruben knocks on the door, all he asks is if Antonie is home. Lucie says no, and Ruben tells her dangerous men are looking for him because he stole some money. Lucie then reports her husband to the police as missing. The soundtrack to this movie is captivating and never stops pounding throughout the movie, I would love to own the soundtrack. Ruben's boss Marco, gets on the case now and thinks Ruben has killed Antonie and took the money, and trusts Lucie's story that tells him that. This movie takes a lot of twists and turns, as Lucie continually makes bad decisions that somehow always work out for her. Meanwhile, Lucie shoots Ruben, but then takes him back to her apartment and gets a doctor who takes care of the wound, as she realizes Ruben is trying to help her. All this time, the manic gangster Marco is tracking them down for a deadly confrontation. This is a truly great twisty thriller from one time director Welterlin and deserves to be seen. It was a real roller-coaster ride for me, and I couldn't recommend it any higher.