Tell No One (2006)

Tell No One

Guillaume Canet 
France

Before we get started I wanted to say we put up the trailer to this film, and view it if you must, but I would actually advise not watching it if you haven't seen the film before.  Because of the many twists in this movie, it is better to go in knowing as little as possible.  However, feel free to read the review as I kept the plot points to a minimum.  

In the spirit of the dark romantic thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock, like Vertigo and North by Northwest, comes Tell No One by Guillaume Canet, a French actor turned director with his second feature. He also co-wrote the script based on an American suspense novel by Harlan Coben and has a very small but integral part as a depraved senator's son. Without having read the book it appears to be the kind of disposable trashy thriller novel overcrowding bookshelves at Barnes & Noble, which isn't necessarily bad source material, but it's not what you think of when it comes to intellectual stimulation. I have a theory that people are often disappointed with films based on great books because they are constantly comparing the two, but if you can take a book that isn't so highly regarded you can often make a great film out of it. A few examples would be The Godfather and 2001: A Space Odyssey. A similar case to this film would be the crime novel, Rum Punch, by Elmore Leonard, which was made into the movie, Jackie Brown. Both are translated to the screen from genre books that could be considered insubstantial.
 

A love story foremost, and a thriller second, Tell No One follows a doctor, Alexandre Beck, still grieving over the murder of his wife eight years ago. All of his friends want him to move on with his life but he can't seem to be able to. Because he was present when she disappeared, the events of his wife's abduction play out in his head over and over. He tries to pick the memories apart to make himself understand what had happened. The murder was accredited to a serial killer active at the time but the police reopen the murder case after new evidence is uncovered with Beck as their top suspect. At around the same time Beck begins to receive mysterious emails with strange clues that come with the warning, “Tell no one. We're being watched.” Pretty soon he finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy and on the run from the law, trying to figure out what is happening before he is caught by the authorities. Revealing anything further would be a crime and the plot, with its many twists and turns, would be spoiled for the new viewer. It's best to go into this film knowing very little so everything is a surprise.
 

For a French production, this film has very American sensibilities with its familiar story of a man alone fighting for everything that's important to him while pursued at every turn. There is even a very real stunt scene while Beck is running from the cops across an expressway. The cinematography is gorgeous with locales in Paris as well as the country. The score is supposedly improvised on guitar, but sounds too good to be true with added great pop songs by American artists like Otis Redding, U2 and Jeff Buckley. François Cluzet plays the lead character, Alexandre Beck, as respectable but desperate. He's still an emotional wreck from his wife's death but people look up to him because he is a physician. He won the César Award (French equivalent of Oscar) for Best Actor for his portrayal. The film also won three more Césars for Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Music Written for a Film. 

Tell No One comes with our highest recommendation and will keep you on the edge of your seat with its labyrinthine plot. The touching love subplot is able to tap into raw human emotion and grabs onto your heart and doesn't let go. It's romantic and beautiful and suspenseful and everything that excites people about movies. New hints and clues reveal themselves on multiple viewings. The film is so satisfying on the whole that I struggled with not revealing more to you in this review because there is so much I want to talk about. So just see it. See it because it's moving, exciting, unpredictable, complex and captivating. See it because it's one of the best films of 2006. See it, then tell all your friends to see it and then see it again. Just talking about it is making me want to watch it again now. 

 

Rating: 10/10
 

-Ryan Sallows

Next time: A review for Clint Eastwood's World War II film, Flags of Our Fathers, his companion piece to an earlier reviewed film, Letters from Iwo Jima.
A review for Robert Altman's final film, A Prairie Home Companion, a big ensemble cast musical-comedy with a lot of heart.