Movie Review - Tell No One

An eclectic mix of Harlan Coben hardboiled action and French sophistication, "Tell No One" proves once again that even American thrillers sound better in French. Francois Cluzet stars as pediatrician Alexandre Beck who's spent the last 8 years mourning the death of his beloved wife Margot (Marie-Josee Croze). The film opens with a disturbing flashback scene where Margot is kidnapped, Alexandre is beaten and the audience is perfectly set up for a long, convoluted but nevertheless riveting story which keeps us, along with Beck, trying to unravel the mysterious events. When Margot's body is later found in a wooded area, it's assumed her death is the work of a serial killer who's already claimed several victims in a similar fashion. The local police, however, have always suspected that Beck is the man responsible for his wife's death. Moving to present day, the bodies of two men who were possibly related to Margot's kidnapping/death are found, causing the police to reopen the case. Meanwhile, through a series of strange email messages, Beck slowly begins to believe that perhaps his wife isn't actually dead after all.

There's a colorful cast of characters, including Beck's friend Helene (a wonderful performance by Kristen Scott-Thomas whose French is impeccable), the thuggish Bruno (Gilles Lellouche) whose hemophiliac son was treated by Beck, and a scary team of kidnappers/killers. Added to the mix are plenty of innovative action sequences along with cool scenes of Paris not usually included on the tourist routes. Director Guillaume Canet keeps the story moving without sacrificing style or substance. We feel Beck's pain over the loss of his wife as well as the frustration of his friends that he's unable to move forward with his life. For some reason Cluzet annoyed me in the lead role, although his performance was fine. An interesting soundtrack managed to work wonders at times and become distracting at others with a U2 song ("With or Without You") featured to terrific effect in one crucial scene. I was left slightly confused by the wrap-up explanations of what really happened, but even though the film went on a bit too long there wasn't a dull moment.

Things to love about this movie: Nail biter scene of Beck trying to cross a crowded beltway on foot; Beck's wonderful Briard dog Nina; romantic opening with Beck and Margot swiftly followed by her horrifying abduction and murder
Things to hate about this movie: A little too long; plot developments became too convoluted and slightly confusing towards the end
Pleasant surprises: Scenes of Beck at work -- it's rare to see movie characters actually doing their job and revealed some interesting aspects of this man; photographs of a bruised, battered Margot turn up and twist the plot in a fascinating way
Unpleasant surprises: One member of the kidnapping team seems to specialize in painfully manipulating internal organs by hand to obtain information from her victims (yikes)