The heiress to a chocolate empire has just re-married her former husband, who is an internationally famous concert pianist. Together with the husband's son from another relationship they constitute a well-respected "haute bourgeoisie" family. However, there's a strange story swirling around the son - it is rumored that, as a new-born baby, he was accidentally exchanged with another baby. Could this rumor be true ? And if so, what does this mean for the other baby involved ?
"Merci pour le chocolat" is a pleasantly watchable thriller about darkly criminal tendencies. There's an interesting juxtaposition between the highly civilized, highly cultured environment and the twisted violence of the crime(s) involved. Isabelle Huppert, très grande dame, is especially riveting.
Unfortunately the movie suffers from a lack of subtlety : every being capable of breathing air will have guessed / reconstructed most of the plot (including the identity of the villain) after 15 to 20 minutes. Some additional suspects or red herrings might have worked wonders here.
Near the end there's also a car ride which stretches credulity. The car ride goes like this : the driver is driving a powerful and unfamiliar car along a dangerous series of roads. The driver begins to feel sleepy and unfocused, as it turns out for good reasons. The passenger sitting next to her notes that she is not doing well and suggests she might be losing her concentration. The driver continues on her merry way, along the same dangerous roads. Jesus Christ ! Every driver with more brains than a hamster would realize that she was in grievous trouble and would try to do the right thing, to wit slow down, find a suitable spot in which to stop and ask the passenger for help. It's a cheap device supposed to keep us viewers hooked, but I for one mainly felt exasperated.
Still, there are worse movies to watch on a rainy evening.
"Merci pour le chocolat" is a pleasantly watchable thriller about darkly criminal tendencies. There's an interesting juxtaposition between the highly civilized, highly cultured environment and the twisted violence of the crime(s) involved. Isabelle Huppert, très grande dame, is especially riveting.
Unfortunately the movie suffers from a lack of subtlety : every being capable of breathing air will have guessed / reconstructed most of the plot (including the identity of the villain) after 15 to 20 minutes. Some additional suspects or red herrings might have worked wonders here.
Near the end there's also a car ride which stretches credulity. The car ride goes like this : the driver is driving a powerful and unfamiliar car along a dangerous series of roads. The driver begins to feel sleepy and unfocused, as it turns out for good reasons. The passenger sitting next to her notes that she is not doing well and suggests she might be losing her concentration. The driver continues on her merry way, along the same dangerous roads. Jesus Christ ! Every driver with more brains than a hamster would realize that she was in grievous trouble and would try to do the right thing, to wit slow down, find a suitable spot in which to stop and ask the passenger for help. It's a cheap device supposed to keep us viewers hooked, but I for one mainly felt exasperated.
Still, there are worse movies to watch on a rainy evening.