> Anything For Her
4 stars (out of 5)
Director: Fred Cavayé.
Cast: Vincent Lindon, Diane Kruger, Lancelot Roch, Liliane Rovère, Olivier Perrier, Hammou Graïa, Rémi Martin, Moussa Maaskri, Alaa Oumouzoune, Dorothée Tavernier.
Rating: (R16).
The chance to do some detective work rare arises with most suspense thrillers, which are heavily signposted ... the big-budget Hollywood ones, anyway.
Fortunately, the French don't subscribe to the same rules. Director Fred Cavayé knows he has one hell of a ripping yarn but, importantly, he respects the intellect of his audience.
Julien Aucler (Vincent Lindon) suddenly finds himself in an unthinkable situation when his wife Lisa (Diane Kruger) is imprisoned for murder. He is left with his life turned upside down and having to care for their only child, Oscar.
Small snippets of information slowly fill in the blanks about the reason for Lisa's imprisonment, and Julien's extraordinary plan to reunite his family.
Keeping the camera tight on the characters' faces, Cavayé has a fantastic understanding of how to tease tension without overblown sound and clichéd camera moves. With every revelation we think we are closer to realising what Julien plans to do, but Anything for Her has more than a few tricks up its sleeve.
With superb pacing, great acting and super-slick cutting, Anything for Her is guaranteed to reinvigorate viewers frustrated with the transparency of the genre.
Best thing: The super-slick editing. It's a masterclass in how to turbo-charge tension.
Worst thing: Realising that it will probably not get the audience numbers it deserves.
See it with: Someone you want to get close to ... they might just end up in your lap.
- Mark Orton.
