Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageIn All Innocence (1998)
Director: Pierre Jolivet
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
After crashing a posh Parisian soirée in search of food and wallets, wide-girl Cécile (Ledoyen) and her friend Samira pull a shoplifting stunt which goes awry; Samira is deported, Cécile arraigned. Making the most of her meagre resources, Cécile shoplifts a skirt suit and cold-calls on the law offices of the man whose wallet she stole, demanding help. Initially merely tickled by her chutzpah, Michel (Lanvin) quickly finds his fancy stoked. He takes both case and defendant. He's less enamoured of Vincent (Canet), a former boyfriend Cécile won't shake; but then his wife Viviane (Bouquet) isn't exactly keen on Cécile. A confidently appointed French thriller with a sense of class, Jolivet's adaptation of Georges Simenon's En cas de malheur offers an intelligent narrative dynamic spanning social and generational divisions, and cogent characterisations by an eminently watchable cast. A pity, then, that the basic dramatic situation's so hidebound. If Michel's dormant class-consciousness promises a variation on the usual midlife-affair material, it's never really pushed beyond the obvious. And while the subsequent passion play is often quite compelling, it gradually sinks into crude revenge drama.Author: NB
Cast & crew
Director: Pierre Jolivet
Producer: Alain Goldman
Cast: Gérard Lanvin, Virginie Ledoyen, Carole Bouquet, Guillaume Canet, Aurélie Vérillon, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Denis Podalydès, Anne Le Ny, Nadia Barentin full cast
Duration: 101 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now