The opening scene to this film is what immediately pulled me into the story, characters, and emotions. The consistent nagging of our main character's children pulled not only at Michel's mind, but also deeply into ours. This sets the stage, while already having your emotions and sense heightened, for the meeting of Harry, Michel's counterpoint in the film. A classic combination of American Psycho and Swimming Pool, our two characters and everything surrounding them pull us in every direction. From confusion, to suspicion, to fear, and even disbelief, we watch as a simple friend, and unknown acquaintance becomes so deeply rooted in this struggling family. Director Dominik Moll has done his homework in this genre and successfully creates a film that not only tantalizes, but also settles in deep inside you releasing snippets of fear throughout the story. His camera angles, structure, and deeply rooted character development make this little, almost unknown, thriller a step above the others out there.
As I said before, Dominik Moll does a great job directing. It is obvious from the opening credits until the chilling ending that he is very comfortable with the genre and the material. There are some amazing scenes that boldly stick out in my mind, and that is a great sign that the director has gone well beyond his duties to create a powerful film. Outside of the direction, which does stand on its own, we also have some of the best casting around. Sergi Lopez literally steals every scene in this film. His charisma, quiet demeanor, and sinister eyes keep our eyes focused directly on him at all time. Moll gives us nothing about Lopez's Harry, which makes him even more watchable. He is curious and slippery all at the same time. We are never quite handed the reason for Harry's persistence with Michel's writing or the back-story on how these two met (the circumstances that apparently effected Harry's life), and it works in this film. I am notorious for needing more stories to accentuate the characters, but in Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien, none is needed. The suspense is built by not knowing and it really sends a chill up your spine.
Talking a bit more about the characters, I loved the way that Plum was handled. Who was she? Why did she always seem to know what Harry was doing? To me, that was some of the more frightening elements of this film. Plum had a secret, and I really wanted to know what it was. You can never trust Harry, which makes me wonder what was the truth and what were lies that he spoke about. Strangely, the way that I saw it, Harry never lied. Outside of the dirty deeds that he sometimes did, he was a pretty honest guy and I think that was his way of winning over Michel's support. On a side note, could you not see this film being remade using Robin Williams as the role of Harry. After seeing him in One Hour Photo and Insomnia, I could see him pulling off a role similar to this (also, Lopez sometimes looked exactly like Williams). Oh well, it was just a thought.
What kept this film going was the simplicity of the story. It was obvious that Moll used the ever-popular direction known as "K.I.S.S." (Keep It Simple Stupid) to keep his audience focused on the characters that were in front of them. This was a character-based film that, like an onion, had layers upon layers of emotions. There were no elaborate sets, no twists and turns, no sudden jumping that would detract us from the story, it was a simple story with amazing characters, nothing more nothing less. For this film, it worked.
Finally, I would like to take you on a thought journey if you wouldn't mind. Think about this for a moment as you finish reading this review. I thought of this after watching the film and as I typed this review. What if there was no Harry? What if Harry was just a figure of a broken man's imagination? From the opening scene we see the tension that Michel is feeling about his life and family, why is it impossible to think that perhaps he created Harry out of thin air to help him through the rough times. We all think of times in our lives that we wished we could go back to, perhaps Michel's time was when he was writing. Writing seemed to ultimately make him happy, so why not dream of a way of getting back there. When it got to scary for Michel (breakdown was pushing him away from those that he loved), is when he had to deal with Harry. I know there are logistical issues with this thought process, for example conversations and so forth, but it was a thought I had as this film seemed to wrap up. Maybe others feel the same, perhaps I am crazy, who knows only I will know when I approach you as a lost friend next time you are at a rest area.
Overall, very impressive work by everyone involved. I thought that the story was tight, the characters were immensely disturbing and exciting at the same time, and the images decorated the film very well. I would suggest it to anyone that loved Swimming Pool, the structure is very similar except one is sex and the other is writing. They do go together don't they?
Grade: **** out of *****
As I said before, Dominik Moll does a great job directing. It is obvious from the opening credits until the chilling ending that he is very comfortable with the genre and the material. There are some amazing scenes that boldly stick out in my mind, and that is a great sign that the director has gone well beyond his duties to create a powerful film. Outside of the direction, which does stand on its own, we also have some of the best casting around. Sergi Lopez literally steals every scene in this film. His charisma, quiet demeanor, and sinister eyes keep our eyes focused directly on him at all time. Moll gives us nothing about Lopez's Harry, which makes him even more watchable. He is curious and slippery all at the same time. We are never quite handed the reason for Harry's persistence with Michel's writing or the back-story on how these two met (the circumstances that apparently effected Harry's life), and it works in this film. I am notorious for needing more stories to accentuate the characters, but in Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien, none is needed. The suspense is built by not knowing and it really sends a chill up your spine.
Talking a bit more about the characters, I loved the way that Plum was handled. Who was she? Why did she always seem to know what Harry was doing? To me, that was some of the more frightening elements of this film. Plum had a secret, and I really wanted to know what it was. You can never trust Harry, which makes me wonder what was the truth and what were lies that he spoke about. Strangely, the way that I saw it, Harry never lied. Outside of the dirty deeds that he sometimes did, he was a pretty honest guy and I think that was his way of winning over Michel's support. On a side note, could you not see this film being remade using Robin Williams as the role of Harry. After seeing him in One Hour Photo and Insomnia, I could see him pulling off a role similar to this (also, Lopez sometimes looked exactly like Williams). Oh well, it was just a thought.
What kept this film going was the simplicity of the story. It was obvious that Moll used the ever-popular direction known as "K.I.S.S." (Keep It Simple Stupid) to keep his audience focused on the characters that were in front of them. This was a character-based film that, like an onion, had layers upon layers of emotions. There were no elaborate sets, no twists and turns, no sudden jumping that would detract us from the story, it was a simple story with amazing characters, nothing more nothing less. For this film, it worked.
Finally, I would like to take you on a thought journey if you wouldn't mind. Think about this for a moment as you finish reading this review. I thought of this after watching the film and as I typed this review. What if there was no Harry? What if Harry was just a figure of a broken man's imagination? From the opening scene we see the tension that Michel is feeling about his life and family, why is it impossible to think that perhaps he created Harry out of thin air to help him through the rough times. We all think of times in our lives that we wished we could go back to, perhaps Michel's time was when he was writing. Writing seemed to ultimately make him happy, so why not dream of a way of getting back there. When it got to scary for Michel (breakdown was pushing him away from those that he loved), is when he had to deal with Harry. I know there are logistical issues with this thought process, for example conversations and so forth, but it was a thought I had as this film seemed to wrap up. Maybe others feel the same, perhaps I am crazy, who knows only I will know when I approach you as a lost friend next time you are at a rest area.
Overall, very impressive work by everyone involved. I thought that the story was tight, the characters were immensely disturbing and exciting at the same time, and the images decorated the film very well. I would suggest it to anyone that loved Swimming Pool, the structure is very similar except one is sex and the other is writing. They do go together don't they?
Grade: **** out of *****