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AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.

Sarentrol Masterful Cinema

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Leofwine_draca ANYTHING FOR HER is another riveting French thriller that outplays Hollywood at their own game. It's a tight, focused, and compelling narrative that follows the misadventures of a man whose wife is sent to prison for a crime she didn't commit. With no chance of her early release, the guy sets about on a crazy plan: to free his wife from prison and flee the country, so that they can begin a new life abroad.This is a great little movie and the only thing I disliked about it was that it could have used a little more breakneck action (director Fred Cavaye would perfect the genre with his next film, POINT BLANK). But the slow first hour works really well in building up sympathetic, realistic characters who you want to see come through no matter what. What really works as well is the focus of the script, which is on the central conceit throughout: there are no dumb sub-plots here, no extraneous stuff, just lean and pared-down filmmaking.The performances are excellent, particularly from the gruff but likable Vincent Lindon, who was a newcomer to me. It's good to see Diane Kruger display some acting chops below the superficial beauty too. But the real winner here is writer/director Cavaye, who's crafted one of the tautest movies of recent years.

gradyharp TOUT POUR ELLE (Anything for Her) was the original story and film from which THE NEXT THREE DAYS was adapted. In many ways this film is at least as strong as the Paul Haggis version with Russell Crowe. Here the credits are due to the imagination of writers Fred Cavayé and Guillaume Lemans and directed by Fred Cavayé. It is a very fine character driven thriller that while it may appear incredible to most, it is nonetheless an involving story of a man's love and commitment to his wife. Julien (an impressive Vincent Lindon) is a schoolteacher who has a happy home life with his beautiful wife Lisa (Diane Kruger) and son Oscar (Lancelot Roch). During a quiet evening at home they are disturbed by policemen who arrest Lisa for a murder she claims she did not commit. Jump three years and Julien has been working with lawyers, spending their paltry savings, on getting appeals to get Lisa released from jail. He gets moral support from his parents (Liliane Rovère and Olivier Perrier) but sees his family falling apart. After three years have passed and when all legal portals fail, Lisa attempts suicide and Julien decides the only way to get Lisa out of prison is to aid in her escape. He visits writer Henri Pasquet (Olivier Marchal) who has escaped from prison several times and outlines the dangers AND the only secure methods for affecting a prison escape. John slowly and methodically prepares for the escape, gaining money by contacting drug lord Mouss (Alaa Safi), commits some crimes of his own as he masterminds his plan to successfully extract Lisa from prison. There are many twists and turns to the story, well written subplots and unexpected coincidences, all populated with a very strong cast of capable actors. It is a tense little French film that may not have the better known cast of its later American successor, but it works on a very different level and is a solid psychological thriller. Grady Harp

kosmasp I will write quite a bit about the movie, so I hope you have either seen it, or you don't care to know a few things about the plot. Because this isn't about if Diane Kruger, who gets send to jail quite early in the movie, is innocent or not (we get a flashback after the judge has penalized her). It's about what a husband will go through, for the love of his life.While the son isn't the best actor there is. Too absent most of the time and therefor almost without any emotional impact during a scene at almost the end of the movie. But the lead actor is really good. Diane Kruger has little to say, but her french is really good and she is convincing in her role.Of course it would have been great to see more of the main character, but since most of the time what he does is an inner thing, this might work better as a book. Still there is a second woman who almost comes into his life (well she kinda tries, though it might seem half-hearted for most of the viewers) and while his relationship with his relatives is quite good, you could ask, why Diane's character did not get a similar treatment. Of course if she had gotten somebody else too, she wouldn't seem so isolated, plus it would take quite some time to establish new characters.A good little thriller with quite some personal touches, very well played and nicely shot then.

Neil Welch Knowing virtually nothing about this film before I went in (I was the only one in the cinema), I was surprised to find that it is a French film, subtitled in English (the cinema billed it as Anything For Her and, from what I could gather using my not-very-good French, the subtitles were about as accurately translated as the title)).In throwaway flashbacks, we learn how Lisa (Diane Kruger from Troy and the National Treasure movies) ends up in prison for a murder which she didn't commit. When, after three years, her legal remedies are all exhausted, she attempts suicide. At this point her schoolteacher husband Julien (Vincent Lindon) decides that his only choice is to break her out of prison and escape to another country in assumed identities with her and their five year old son. In order to do so he must first dip his toe into the underworld. The bulk of the film tells of how he makes and executes his plans.This was an interesting and gripping film, telling an unusual story from an unusual viewpoint. There wasn't a vast amount of action (although the small amount of action was well executed), but that didn't matter: the story itself was a powerful engine driving the film along.Lindon's performance seemed initially rather one-note: on consideration, I think I can see that it was actually rather Gallic, suggesting hidden depths which showed through infrequently. Diane Kruger plays nicely against type, as a dowdy jailbird throughout most of the film.In short, a small film, but very good of its type.