Cinematic gems #8: Tell No One

A stylish, engrossing and perfectly-paced French thriller, Tell No One is about to get it's inevitable Hollywood reworking (Miramax is at the helm) and probable butchering. So take this opportunity now to add it to your Netflix queues and see one of the best films of the last few years.

Based on the novel by Harlan Coben, the film follows Dr. Alex Beck (a fantastic Francois Cluzet, in a Cesar Award-winning performance), who is slowly putting his life back together eight years after his wife, Margot (Marie-Josee Croze) was murdered, presumably by a serial killer. Two bodies are discovered and Beck, fully innocent, is implicated in their murders. That same day, he receives a mysterious email, warning him that he is being watched--with video surveillance footage of Margot, seemingly alive and well. Beck soon finds himself on the run--from the police, who want him for murder, and from strong-armed goons, who want him to lead them to Margot. What follows is an ingenious murder-mystery and chase picture, and one that hooks you in from the first frame to the last.

Also on hand are The English Patient's Kristin Scott-Thomas, who has made quite a living in French cinema (particularly in I've Loved You So Long) and Nathalie Baye (star of Truffaut's Day For Night). The film is expertly crafted by director Guillaume Canet, at the helm of only his second feature film, for which he won the Cesar Award for Best Director. Primarily an actor, he is best known for his work in Danny Boyle's The Beach and is dating Marion Cotillard (there's some international gossip for ya). The score is by French singer-songwriter -M-, and is an incredibly effective use of strings and electric guitars. The film also uses American pop songs to great effect--particularly memorable is a sequence utilizing U2's With or Without You.

An edge-of-your-seat heart stopper, Tell No One truly does not disappoint.