Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Anything for Her (2009)
Director: Fred Cavayé
Movie review
From Time Out London
To call a film a thriller is usually a lazy catch-all that can apply to anything from a bone-headed Renny Harlin flick to a Michael Haneke investigation into the darkest reaches of the human soul. Often, though, it means one thing in critical terms: ignore the story and enjoy the ride. It’s an easy imperative which applies well enough to this French prison-break yarn from first-time director Fred Cavayé, who demands that you bite your tongue during some of his film’s wilder plot turns while he diverts your attention just enough to keep you on side.It opens with terrified, middle-aged Julien (Vincent Lindon) driving like a maniac, his face bloodied, staring in pure fear at something on the back seat. We flash back to urban, marital bliss: Julien, a teacher, and his wife Lisa (Diane Kruger), a smart, pretty executive, return loved up from a night out, pay the babysitter and jump into bed. The next morning we watch Lisa cleaning blood from the shoulder of her coat as the police burst in and arrest her for murder. Next thing we know, it’s three years down the line, she’s serving a life sentence, all appeals are spent and, if he’s ever to live with his wife and son again, Julien is going to have to seize the day and free Lisa from jail himself…
A ridiculous prospect, perhaps, but Cavayé pushes it all through with a lean immediacy and by keeping at least one eye on the emotions of man, wife and child while fixing the other on the mechanics of tension. He reveals the truth about the murder early on, so firing our feelings for Julien further, and he lends logic to his protagonist’s behaviour. He also stays aware of the absurdity of a school teacher turning to extreme violence, not least with a telling, lingering shot of Julien staring at himself in the mirror, holding a gun, his face damaged after a beating. Cavayé’s film may not be the cleverest or most credible but it packs an effective punch.
Author: Dave Calhoun
Time Out London Issue 2024, June 3 - 10, 2009
Cast & crew
Director: Fred Cavayé
Cast: Vincent Lindon, Diane Krüger, Lancelot Roch full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 97 mins
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.
What do you think?
Post your review now