Playlist: Red Lights

I really can't remember why I decided to watch this film. I assume I read somewhere that it was good, or more likely, that it was cool in that way that would make me sound cool to say that I saw it. Of course, it would have to be said to someone who not only saw it as well but thought it would be cool to hear that someone else had seen it. Then, if we were really as cool as we were pretending to be, we would punch each other in the face.

For everyone else, this is an interesting French thriller from a few years back. The first half takes place almost entirely in a car as a married couple set off to pick up their kids from summer camp. They fight, and the back and forth is very well written and really plays across Jean-Pierre Darroussin's face. It's a long trip and he's pissed, so he stops for a drink. Or two. France is a different place. He stops for double whiskeys unlike American rest stops where we stop for liters of soda and Cinnabon. Well, one time he comes back to the car--yes, he left his wife in the car--and she's not there. He finds a note that says she was taking a train. And that's where the thriller part kicks in.

This reminded me of two movies. First, for plot reasons, the 1988 Dutch film, The Vanishing, which was whatever the Dutch is for "terrific" (though stay away from the awfully remade Sandra Bullock version for Sandra Bullock reasons--sorry, Academy Award winner Sandra Bullock). The other film is the 2006 French adaptation of Harlan Coben's novel, Tell No One. Not that I have to tell SMC readers, but there are some very good foreign films out there far removed from the pretentious stigma of the past. See both of these.

The second part of Red Lights begins with the husband waking up on the side of the road with little memory of the long night before. As events unfold, we learn the very important lesson of not stopping for double whiskeys while driving a long distance at night. Like Tell No One, the ending is weighed down by a lot of exposition. Remember all that tension from the past 90 minutes? Here's why. Merci. Maybe it sounds better in French. Good film, though.