Customer Reviews

A Crime ( Un crime ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I saw this film on an import DVD some time ago (it's actually from 2006, just now getting a U.S. release), and it's actually a pretty decent little thriller.

Fans of Harvey Keitel and/or Norman Reedus will probably enjoy their performances here. Keitel is actually pretty creepy here.

Film has a nice, noirish-type look and feel, and there are some genuinely tense moments. Story is about a young man whose wife was brutally murdered by a serial killer the cops never found. He is unable to get on with his life due to his obsession with finding the killer. His neighbor is a lonely, awkward young woman who wants to reach him, so she sets up a seemingly innocent cab driver to take the fall so the young guy can "get on" with his life, and be open to her. Naturally, things go way, way out of hand. All the characters are pretty unlikable, but the story certainly has some originality, and there are some good twists.

Only a totally unbelievable final twist nearly ruins everything (just so the story can be tied up neatly at the end). All in all, a watchable, pulpy little indie thriller.

The director, Manuel Pradal, has worked with Keitel before, on "Ginostra".

Harvey Keitel and Norman Reedus give great performances as they usually do and if you like them, you'll enjoy this movie. Reedus plays Vincent, who can't continue his life until he finds his wife's murderer. Keitel, a cabbie, is a victim who unwittingly becomes a part of Vincent's madness. The "crime" committed is a pretty good one in theory, but like most crimes it's not perfect. A Crime keeps you guessing, even if it moves kind of slow for a thriller. Emanuelle Beart, who plays Vincent's new girlfriend Alice, annoys me to no end in this film - I don't know that she is SUPPOSED to or what. I've watched A Crime a few times and liked it better each time ... but again, I have to say, Beart's Alice is an unlikeable, shallow, conniving bitch who almost makes me want to stop watching yet there I am up to the end as if something will change. I mention this because her role is integral in this whole 'crime'. I still don't know if this is just good acting on her part or if I just personally find her/Alice despicable (LOL).

This crime story has a rather unbelievable, but nevertheless compelling premise. When a man's wife is killed by gunfire coming from what he glimpses as a passing taxi driver - the man finds it impossible to move on with his life. He dwells on the sheer inexplicability of the unsolved murder. Another young woman aspiring to have a relationship with the anguished man decides to shake him out of his entrenched grief by pinning the murder on someone - anyone. She picks a working cab driver at random and proceeds to frame him for the murder. In order to maneuver the driver into the appearance of guilt, she has to get close to him. And so starts a vaguely surreal, down-and-dirty romance with the cab driver.

Yes, this plot is resting on very shaky psychological ground and proceeds from one improbability to another. It also seems to be the product of an uneasy American-French collaboration. The action is supposed to be taking place in the U.S. and stars American actor Harvey Keitel, but I think I glimpsed the Eiffel Tower in the background as the cab driver and his new paramour are presumably skimming away from something like the Verrazano Bridge.

Despite these lapses, I found myself getting drawn into the off-beat atmosphere of this film. It has a certain French New Wave quality about it, featuring people wandering in the purple estrangement of urban settings. What's more, Harvey Keitel has a grungy masculine appeal that becomes more memorable the farther I move away from having viewed "The Crime." There's also the novelty of a boomerang playing a featured role in the film, ready to come back and hit you with any number of different morals to the story.

I rented this because I saw that Harvey Keitel is in it. I didn't think it was going to be very good but to my surprise, it was actually good.

The movie starts out where a man's wife is grossly murdered. They never find the killer and he becomes obsessed with it, checking out almost with other relationships. He is neighbors with a beautiful woman who is in love with him. She tries taking him out and such but he is so obsessed with the murder of his wife that he ignores her. She thinks up of a plan to frame a cab driver (Harvey Keitel) for the murder so she can go out with the guy. And the story goes on from there......

It is very original, it has a good twist in the ending

A Crime is a fantastic movie and was well worth the buy. The delivery was prompt and everything was perfect, no dents, no breaks or cracks...flawless. Thanks for making my nights a little brighter viewing wise!

There are 3 nude scenes of Emmanuelle Beart. You can fast forward through the movie to those to make it a three star movie. Let me give you the PLOT SPOILERS because this movie is really bad and moves slow and I saw the 98 minute version. Vincent's wife it murdered. His only clue was a taxi cab that pulled away. It had a scratch on the side, the driver wore a red jacket and had a large ring. (Imagine being able to catch all of that on a drive-by.) After 3 years he can't get over her, he is bent on revenge and is constantly looking for the killer. French accent cutie, Emmanuelle Beart (Alice)is his drunken neighbor who keeps throwing herself at him to no real avail. Then she gets an idea. Go have sex with some cab driver and frame him. So now we get to see Harvey Keitel with his shirt off, which looks as bad as it sounds. Beart is another story. She sets Keitel up so he meets Vincent and he has him beat up and then drives him and his cab into the Hudson.

Alice and Vincent give us the second nude scene, but as it turns out Keitel didn't die in the Hudson, but did get a mouth full of the water, perhaps a fate worse than death. Alice confesses the whole thing to Keitel, who now wants the woman who tried to have him killed move in with him. DUH! As a compromise he blackmails her into having sex with him. (Third nude scene.) Guess how that works out? In a story with only three characters, one of which is a cab driver, and the killer is a cab driver, guess who the killer is Scooby-Doo?

The original movie is 103 minutes. (when converted to NTSC it should be 108 minutes approximately.
This edition is 98 minutes. So beware of this when ordering.
Its hard to understand why these films are cut. Are we really this immature?