Wordiezett So much average

Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

3xHCCH "Love Crime" is a story set in a firm with a tense conflict between two of its top female executives. Unscrupulous boss Christine (Kristen Scott-Thomas) steals credit for a big project by her idealistic assistant Isabelle (Ludivine Sangnier). Christine never would have imagined the lengths "naive" Isabelle would go to in order to turn the tables on her ruthless boss.As European films go, the pace is very slow. It was so slow that you can already see the predictable ending within the first half hour of the film. It was interesting to see how Isabelle plotted and executed her revenge, but it just took to long to tell the story. The extremely dull acting style of Ludivine Sangnier as Isabelle is so sleepy! She practically had one wide-eyed face during the whole film.I sought this film out because it will have an American remake entitled "Passion" by no less than master of suspense Brian de Palma, starring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace. I look forward to that to see how de Palma could improve the lackluster story-telling of "Love Crime."

TxMike Kristin Scott Thomas is one of the better, and still under-appreciated, actresses. She also happens to be fluent in both English and French, so she is a natural for the part of Christine , ruthless boss in this Paris office. It never is quite clear what they do, but they do studies and make presentations to clients that will help them increase their business tremendously.So in this Paris office Ludivine Sagnier (of 'Swimming Pool' fame) is the hot-shot, right-hand woman Isabelle Guérin. She is so good that after she does a detailed study, Christine sends her to Cairo to deliver the presentation herself. But then a couple of days later, in the Paris office, Christine is on a phone call, with Isabelle standing right there, and Christine takes full credit for Isabelle's work, further enhancing her promotion possibilities to that better job in New York.Isabelle is stunned but Christien assures her 'that is the way things are done' and if they all stick together they will all be better off. However this never sits well with Isabelle, and things get even worse after she is double-crossed with a man involved.Frankly the situations do not seem legitimate, for a number of reasons and many of the later developments are clearly telegraphed well in advance. Still it is fun to see the story unfolding. Sagnier, who seems to be best known for her nudity in film, shows that she is a very capable actress and in fact the film contains no nudity.SPOILERS: Isabelle decides that her only recourse is to kill Christine. So she systematically sets up the crime so that it points to her, and she is arrested and charged. But she had in fact taken the time to set up clues to eventually free her, and to frame the dishonest man for the crime. However, in the end her faithful assistant, Guillaume Marquet as Daniel , lets her know he understands what she did and she will have to keep him happy to keep her secret.

mikeolliffe The writer/director wastes the time of everyone involved in this film, and everyone who mistakenly watches it. I know I indicated spoilers lurk within this review, but I'll try to avoid the more obvious ones.In real life, we know that everyone is just about capable of everything. A trivial incident can send one person into a rage. In our films, however, we want more plausibility. We are able to sense when a character is not psychologically true.If we accept that our protagonist is an intelligent, capable businesswoman, we must be provided with extremely good reasons for that character to go off the rails.The film-makers are decidedly cynical when they inject quasi-Lesbianism for box-office returns. They should instead have tried reading 'Business for Dummies' because it appears they know next to nothing about business life. (A smart person would know that to extensively humiliate a younger colleague in public, someone she herself had been mentoring, would reflect negatively on herself.)I hope the actresses involved get some decent material to work with. Soon.

John Raymond Peterson This movie is another fine example of why I like French Movies. The movie is a psychological thriller and it has a brilliantly planned and executed murder for revenge. Let me start by saying that watching a film with two women executives fighting the traditional men's games was an original idea that some audiences, especially in America might not appreciate as much as audiences familiar with foreign/Euro movies; that's too bad because there is such a wealth of talent there that America has been missing out for years. Hollywood is slowly now using that talent, not only in the use of actors, but cinematography and action choreography. I digress. The two lead roles, Christine and Isabelle, played respectively by Kristin Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier are well done and directed. Scott Thomas has played a role of ruthless executive in another movie I enjoyed immensely, the 2008 movie 'Largo Winch'; you must see that movie (click on IMDb 'Jrlock' author link to see my review of it). Anyone familiar with her work knows to watch her movies; I've seen many French movies she's played in and I'm a fan, not just of her English speaking roles.Ludivine Sagnier is no new comer; she has an extensive filmography I've only recently been paying attention to. Her range of character performances is not limited; in recent reviews of mine, she is mentioned not just in passing. In this movie, she takes a second position to that of Scott Thomas, but not for long. As much as Christine was ruthless and cunning, Isabelle displays identical traits only developed as the character takes shape before a surprised audience. I absolutely loved the murder plot and scheme Isabelle devised to clear herself. I won't spoil the movie any more by giving further hints or details; that's where you can have fun. The ending scenes were very smart and will have you shaking your head in admiration. I resisted using the 'tough love' pun as my movie summary but couldn't resist inserting it here; you'll have to see the movie to get this pun.