Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

jcappy A middling movie---either good or not good, depending on the viewer, but not more and not less. 5.5-6.6 range (if you're not taken in by the music). One thing is certain: it doesn't live up to its title. In fact, it seems the opposite of it--as about as far from noir as you can get. That is, very conventional in both plot, character, place. This can only be ascribed to the director and his obvious need to make a movie that would ruffle no one's feathers. But there's more to his problem than that--the characters are too flat, over-directed, or subject to stock interactions. They seem to be either too restrained or too placed in some clichéd opposition--the triangle love thing, for example.Part of the problem arises from personalizing a story which must be larger. The only peep at the world we get are the industrial cityscape around Frank's job, and then in his second coming at Bordeaux he seems to let into the château's ordered environment some of the conflicted world. To me, the best scene in the movie is Patricia's wild scream upon yanking open the door--on his mug. Hey, some genuine dramatic energy--and Frank provides a bit more of this before his quick demise. But in general, the nice characters inhabit too nice a world, and are bound to too nice an end in which nature, love, and joy of tradition are confirmed by a few personages on a rural estate.So how is it good? It has its moments, and it has three good actors who make them happen. Baye's performance is obviously the most convincing--and at moments special. But it can be unnerving---Patricia cannot lie, and she cannot tell the truth, so talk is out and when she does speak this can cause dead space and produce much self-castigation in the Meyrands. Mrs. Meyrand (Madeleine Robinson) is also steady and direct, and some of the scenes between this son-loving woman and Patricia express an unusual warmth, and commonality, (more so than Patricia's with Pierre--he seems too directed and stiff). Frank (Richard Bohringer), Helen's slimy cynic of a husband, lucks out on some good lines toward the end and brings them off. Oh yes and the winery worker girlfriend, Fido, does have some snap--and brings a bit of the world to bear on this closely controlled drama.That's about it. Since the movie is pretty bereft of self-questioning or ideas, that tends to limit, methinks, discussion.

kinsayder Nathalie Baye plays the fiancée of a bully (Richard Bohringer in one of his trademark creepy bad guy roles). She is suddenly given the opportunity to start a new life by assuming the identity of a dead woman, and she takes it. But of course it's not going to be that easy...The choice of Nathalie Baye as the lead is important for the tone of the film. With another actress, say Isabelle Adjani, we would be in completely different territory, questioning the heroine's motives as she settles into her new and immensely wealthy "family". But Baye has such a guileless sweetness, you find yourself rooting for her even when she's sticking a knife in someone's chest. Francis Huster is well cast, too, as the romantic lead whose ambiguous behaviour (has he guessed her secret?) fuels much of the suspense during the middle section of the film.Despite the corny plot and the melodramatic elements, the film has a very satisfying pace and mood (enhanced by the lovely soundtrack and the glorious Bordeaux setting). It may be a disappointment to fans of the much darker novel but, as Robin Davis explains in his DVD commentary, it was never his intention to make a faithful adaptation or a typical noir thriller. He changed the story because he cared too much about the characters to abandon them without hope.

dbdumonteil This one may be the worst of all Irish's (Cornell Woolrich's) adaptation for the screen.Not because they have transposed the action from California to the vineyards of Bordeaux,but because they totally betrayed the novel.Robin Davis ,a thoroughly faceless director, could not render Irish's doomed atmosphere to the slightest extent.The dialogue is mean,poor,repetitive,Richard Boringer,the villain,is reduced to repeat almost the same lines three times.The conclusion becomes an happy end,forgetting the terrible final lines of the novel,something like:"We've lost.That's all I know.We've lost.And now the game is over." Irish's tragic tale of fatality is turned into a soap opera .Natalie Baye could have been the character,had she found the adequate team. The only comedian on the screen who generates some emotion is veteran Madeleine Robinson.This was a blockbuster in France,but ,alas, almost nobody read the book.Do it,and avoid this bland movie.NB :A new adaptation ,"Mrs Winterbourne" (1996) ,is worse.The best,by far ,is Mitchell Leisen's "No man of her own" starring Barbara Stanwyck.

Stefan Kahrs Here we have a rare genre mix, Thriller and Romance - and I'm not talking about a Thriller with a love interest, or a Romance with a thrilling element. The film is genuinely both.Nathalie Baye is excellent in the lead as the pregnant woman who survives a train crash and is mistaken for somebody else. She has good reasons to go along with this charade and part of the plot develops delightfully in the While You Were Sleeping mode. Baye's past is coming to haunt her though, giving the film an extra hard edge.In some sense it's the kind of film US television companies would like to make but always fail.