58 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Virtuosic Mind Twister of a Film, October 20, 2008
TELL NO ONE (Ne le dis à personne) succeeds on every level for this viewer. Based on Harlan Coben's novel and adapted for the screen and directed by Guillaume Canet, this is one of those intricately complex French films that is much in the same mode as the 1955 film LES DIABOLIQUES. Nothing is as it appears at first and even when the mystery is explained in what appears to be a systematic, cohesive manner, the 'real story' remains a conundrum. It is a brilliant little film well worth multiple viewings to fully appreciate all of the aspects of the fine acting, cinematography, direction and musical scoring.
In a misty opening we discover Alexandre Beck (François Cluzet) and his beautiful wife Margot (Marie-Josée Croze) only to abruptly be drawn into the murder of Margot and the beating of Alexandre. The incidents are shrouded in mystery and remain so for eight years when suddenly the now pediatrician Alexandre receives an email from the 'deceased' Margot. Alexandre's world is topsy turvy and he begins to share the strange incident with his family - his sister Anne (Marina Hines) and her lover Hélène (a radiant Kristin Scott Thomas), his father, Margot's family...and the police who begin to discover evidence that implicates Alexandre as the perpetrator. Alexandre's lawyer (Nathalie Baye) pits evidence against the police investigators while Alexandre's chief ally in his run from the accusers is Bruno (Gilles Lellouche), the father of a hemophiliac patient whom Alexandre has treated and befriended. The chase is on and the clues become increasingly puzzling until at last the truth of the now eight year old murder and all of the implications of that event unfold.
If there are seemingly holes in the story it is because we, the audience, are never quite sure about the twists and turns of the plot. The acting is superb from this cast of some of France's finest artists, and one of the best performances in the film comes from British actress Kristin Scott Thomas, reminding us that she is one of the most talented and beautiful actors on the screen today! This is a tough little film to follow, but the quality of both the story and the production is first rate. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, October 08
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33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very exciting thriller: Hitchcockian intrigue keeps you guessing throughout this French "Fugitive"-style film, October 14, 2008
This is a very exciting thriller, in the tradition of American films like
The Fugitive, but with a unique edge that makes it distinctively French and deliciously diabolical. It is certainly darker (and funnier) than The Fugitive, but it is no accident that there is an American feel, since it is based on a book by Harlan Coben.
Eight years after his wife's brutal murder, new clues emerge that lead police to once again suspect that Alexander Beck may have killed her. At the same time, he begins to think she may be still alive, and is frantic to find her before he is arrested as a suspect for another related homicide. Director Guillaume Canet keeps you guessing as the plot thickens, revealing bits and pieces of the past as new circumstances help Beck to see that he didn't know his wife as well as he had thought.
The film looks great, with editing and camera work that helps to achieve a perfect balance of subtle tension and intensity. The performances are all very strong -- and there is a surprisingly intense performance by a bit player, a determined and remorseless tall and skinny female assassin/torture expert, that still haunts me. In fact, I would go as far as to say that her performance created one of the most frightening villians I've seen on the screen in a long time -- even more than the performance of Javier Bardem as Chigurh in
No Country for Old Men -- because it was just as intense but more plausible. Definitely recommended for lovers of French Cinema, but also for those who think that French films tend to be too cerebral and cannot deliver the thrills. This one hits you in both the brain and the gut.
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44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the finest thrillers on film, from an equally fine book. Guillaume Canet and Harlan Coben make a great team, August 10, 2008
Says Roger Ebert: "Here is how a thriller should be made."
Says Stephen Holden of the New York Times: "I watched it twice. It was even better the second time."
Says me: "I couldn't agree more with them." Tell No One, even without the quotes, is one of the best thrillers I've seen in a long, long time.
Alexander Beck and his wife, Margot, both much in love, have gone for a bit of evening skinny-dipping in the country. There's a minor disagreement and she dives back in from the float and heads to the shore. He hears her cry out and swims as swiftly as he can after her. When he reaches the small dock and starts to pull himself out, he's met by a baseball bat. While he's in a coma for three days his wife is found dead with severe bruising and cuts, the marks of a known serial killer. But who pulled Beck out of the water? Who called for emergency medical help?
Eight years later Dr. Alex Beck, a pediatrician, is told by the police that the remains of two unidentified male bodies have been found in the vicinity of where his wife was murdered. Then he receives an e-mail on his computer. The attachment shows a woman leaving a crowded exit. She pauses and looks at the security camera. The picture is fuzzy. The scene ends. Beck has never remarried and still is haunted by the memory of his wife. He is almost sure this woman is she. The message in the e-mail says, "Tell no one. They're watching."
The director and co-screenwriter Guillaume Canet has taken the novel by Harlan Coben and, working with Coben, has fashioned a film at least as good as the novel. The film has been crafted with care. You'd best pay attention to every moment. Irrelevant items turn out to be relevant. Assumptions based on how a scene opens turn out often to be not what they seem, but just as reasonable. Canet (and Coben) don't shy away from violence -- there is a memorable woman you don't ever want to displease -- but the violence isn't just for gee whiz show biz purposes. When violence happens, it reminds us to stay alert. Canet takes us all over the place, from Paris slums to society horse events. He has Beck dancing across a highway filled with speeding cars and then hiding out in a dumpster sharing space with garbage and a large rat. The story is just as complicated as Coben's novel (as all his novels are), but -- if you've been paying attention -- all becomes clear. If the cops are after Beck because they think he may have had something to do with his wife's death, it also may be true that others are after him because they think she might be alive. But why?
Helping immeasurably with the interest and speed of the film are the actors. Francois Cluzet plays Dr. Beck, a capable, resourceful man, but no buff Hollywood hero. Cluzet is not an especially handsome lead actor, and that's all to the good. Surrounding him are such fine French actors as Andre Dussollier as his wife's father, a grieving retired senior cop; Francois Berleand as a sympathetic and smart police officer; Nathalie Baye as a lawyer who knows how to deal with district attorneys; and a fine Jean Rochefort, as well as Kristin Scott Thomas speaking impeccable French as his best friend, a wealthy woman having an affair with his equestrienne sister.
Tell No One is an excellent movie. And I hope you'll pick up of a few of Harlan Coben's mysteries while you're at it. He started out with several books featuring Myron Bolitar (whose best friend, Win Lockwood, is not a person to irritate). Try the first one first,
Deal Breaker (Myron Bolitar Mysteries). Coben lately has moved into darker themes, such as
Tell No One. His latest is
The Woods. Coben knows how to create intricate but logical plots and strong characters. He's a first-class writer. His books are much better than the usual thriller-every-year bestseller that some authors churn out regularly.
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