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ROMAN DE GARE Send This Review to a Friend
Veteran director Claude Lelouch’s “Roman de Gare,” the opening night attraction of the 2008 Rendez-vous with French Cinema,” is a clever work that is fresh in performances and attitude. Fanny Ardant stars as a best-selling author of crime fiction. She’s in the process of researching her book, and meanwhile, there is much ado with news broadcasts about a serial killer who has escaped.
When a Parisian hairdresser, Huguette, picks up a man at a roadside rest stop, we quickly begin to wonder whether he is the escapee. Audrey Dana is compelling as Huguette and Dominique Pinon gives an excellent performance as the man in question.
The story is part-mystery, part-romance, with twists of deception and exposé. The writing is sharp and entertaining, and the film has a good share of humor sandwiched between its more serious aspects. The acting is top drawer. This is one of the more accessible French imports, and a new feather in the cap of the renowned Lelouche.
The director, who made a splash with “A Man and a Woman” in 1966, has had a long career, and here shows that he can make a bright new work, well-shot and well-constructed. The film not only is involving, but it is sharp in its cynicism about the ways of publishing and human behavior. A Samuel Goldwyn Films release.
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