Review of A Pure Formality

Considering that about 90% of a "A Pure Formality" takes place inside a decrepit police station, the writer-director, Giuseppe Tornatore, does a good job of preventing it from feeling too static (with the help of some brilliantly edited fractured flashbacks). What starts as a typical police procedural turns into something more philosophical, symbolic, powerful. It wouldn't be far off the mark to call this a two-hour episode of "The Twilight Zone", and as such it is as exhausting at times as the night of interrogation is for Gerard Depardieu. But it pays off, and the two stars (well, one star and one famous director in a rare starring role) are well-matched. *** out of 4.