Anthony Zimmer

First I have to confess Alfred Hitchcock is not my favorite filmmaker - perhaps partly due to the somewhat clunky exposition he sometimes used but there are elements of Anthony Zimmer which I enjoyed and which recalled Hitchcock at his best. As so many have said before me Sophie Marceau is very,very good in Anthony Zimmer but , for me, Yvan Attal was the standout. I have liked his somewhat deadpan style since "Les Patriots" (still one of my favorite thrillers) and here, as the 'ordinary' guy supposedly caught up in things beyond his knowledge he plays a much more realistic Cary Grant type than you would usually see in a Hitchcock movie. Sure, you can tell pretty quickly he's not really who he seems to be but then how long did it take you to figure that Grant wasn't all he seemed in "North By Northwest". That's part of the fun of films like Anthony Zimmer. I've seen "Zimmer" twice and I'll be more than happy to watch it again.

I found this movie a bit slow paced in many places, sometimes unnecessary so.

However that being said, I have noticed that the major part of the plot has already been given away in the first 20 minutes of the film. If you watch and listen carefully, you will realize who Anthony Zimmer really is. I thought this is a real let down to this movie. Too predictable.

Sofie Marceau is really very sexy in the movie, much better than what Hollywood filmed her in their movies. As usual, she portrays a woman who is coldly sexy, turning to a hot object of desire in several scenes.

The plot of the movie is relatively simple, and its length is a bit too short. There were many subplot possibilities which were not explored.

If you like a evenly-paced thriller, this is probably for you.

This is a story which we've seen many times in American movies. About the common gentle guy who without wanting so, gets involved in heavy things. And it could happen to all of us.

The plot is rather clever, but you have some unanswered questions in the end. Sophie Marceaux plays the mystic lady and you never know whether she really is good or bad. Not even when the movie is over.

What is a quite intelligent psychological drama, turns into a violent outburst. Anyway it's nice to watch such a plot in another environment; here the French Côte d'Azur. But it's too physical in the end and maybe the plot maker hasn't had any real good ideas about how to finish it.

Director Jerome Salle wanted this film to remind us Hitchcock's or Polanski's movies with the next door guy type getting caught into a web of mistaken identity. He actually tries more with a story which may have had a better chance if it decided whether it wants to play on the thriller or on the romantic movie line. Unfortunately he seems to try to do both and fails on both, because we are never sure what the director wants for us, and because the point of gravity where he takes us changes too sudden. We are left with a well acted film with Sophie Marceau and Yvan Attal leading a good team of actors, but also with a feeling of in-satisfaction because despite the good ideas the film ends by looking too short and too superficial to give us time to be thrilled or to be moved.

This is an engaging and quite clever thriller, produced, directed and acted as only the French do: stylish, cool, suave – and with a twist. Or, was it a double twist? Here's the setup: a wanted criminal, Anthony Zimmer, is being hunted by the French police who want Zimmer in jail; and by the Russian mafia who just want him dead. Zimmer, however, has recently acquired a new face via plastic surgery; so nobody knows what he looks like now.

He has a weakness, however: the femme fatale who, in this case, is Chiara (Sophie Marceau), who keeps in touch with Zimmer via classified messages in the Herald-Tribune. As his girl friend, she's instructed by letter, from Zimmer, to board a train and pick the man who most closely resembles Zimmer's size and shape – and then play up to him as though he was in fact Anthony Zimmer. Why? Because Zimmer wants an available sap to act as stand-in when the mafia make their hit...

Enter poor Francois Taillandier (Yvan Attal), minding his own business on the train when the gorgeous Chiara sets down opposite and, very adroitly, gets Francois to join her in her travels to the Cote d'Azur and a luxurious holiday… he thinks. Francois figures he's maybe in heaven for the first day, a wonderful dinner, followed by the potential for real romance.

And then, the sky falls in...

In short order, Francois is running for his life (almost like Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man [1976] and for similar reasons) as the mafia try twice to kill him, Chiara reveals that she set him up, the mafia keep on trying to make a hit on him, the police try to help him, and Zimmer's still pulling the strings it seems. Things are closing in on Francois, and it seems like only a matter of time before he takes a hit.

Not everything is as it seems, however...

To say more would spoil this film for you. Suffice to say that, like Hitchcock and others before, the denouement between the police, the mafia and the elusive Zimmer is very satisfying, if somewhat contrived, perhaps.

The ending, however, does raise some interesting questions and provides no firm answers, an aspect I particularly like – because that allows me to formulate the complete end according to my own inclination. Besides, whenever you read about murder and mayhem in real life, you never get the full story anyway. Right?

The cinematography is exquisite on the French coastline, the sound track is good, the acting is...oh, who cares...I was too busy looking at Sophie Marceau anyway. Okay – the acting was adequate, but not spectacular.

See this one. You won't regret the ninety minutes.