All Our Desires

Philippe Lioret has created some terrific roles for women: I will always remember what Sandrine Bonnaire did with her Brittany lighthouse keeper's wife who has a yen for a young stranger (L'Equipier), or what Melanie Laurent did with her head-strong teenage girl part (Je vais bien...). Marie Gillain makes us forget her early work as empty-headed women who easily turn to crime as she plays a crusading judge, a woman who tries to fight the predatory credit system in France. Not only are the banks against her, but the people who want easy credit and won't read the fine print on contracts are too.

The actors do fine; I'm always glad to see Vincent Lindon in any part and here he is especially good. He's a rugby coach as well as Gillain's partner in the crusade and gives a great energy to the film. I would have cut about 30 minutes out of it, however.