WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Edgar Soberon Torchia Belgian film from 2003, the first part of a trilogy that I had never heard of and that was recommended to me by a cinéphile friend, precisely, from Belgium.With only this movie Lucas Belvaux is a candidate to enter my personal Olympus of Filmmakers. I do not know how the other two movies are yet but this one is good cinema, shocking, sober but extremely violent. It has been 15 years since it was made but it still stands as a solid production with a forceful story. Belvaux himself (who made an acting career in France) leads the cast as Bruno, a leftist ex-militant who escapes from prison, where he has served 15 years of a sentence. Outside the world changed, but not his head. Bruno returns to settle accounts to those who were traitors to the cause, to fight for the proletarian masses, to exterminate the oppressors: so convinced is the man that he unleashes a wave of violence and manifests features of extreme cruelty that catch you by surprise. Now I'm going for the second installment, in which characters that were secondary in the first one come to the fore. Winner of the Prix Louis Delluc and the award of the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics for Best Film of the Year.

Tim Kidner Although being the first part of a trilogy, I'm reviewing 'On the Run' now, separately, as its the only part I've seen, as yet.French cinema pioneered the perfect heist movie and whilst this is essentially more a fugitive chase after a jail break, it never lets up. It's quite complex, yet not impenetrably so and covers many contemporary issues such as police corruption and drug addiction. Films such as The French Connection, Ronin, Leon and Nikkita are all Gallic set or influenced and may have influenced Belcaux in the making of this. (I'd recommend all those titles on their own merit, too).There's a stone-cold calculating ruthlessness about the lead, like Edward Fox's "Day of the Jackal" (French set, of course; comparisons can be made, though that film's sheer slickness isn't quite there). The French are currently doing some excellent crime drama but this takes it further as we are whistle-stopped around some wonderful Alpine locations. This allows us to breathe more freely, visually, but the action still zips along, culminating with a quite unexpected conclusion. We know that there's an element of a political, possibly local terrorism cell that may get re-ignited running through this film and we're not told everything either, which adds to the suspense. Noted French financed films such as 'Battle of Algiers' and 'Z' have paved the way for, often paler Hollywood impersonations. This film isn't about shooting 'em up, Stallone style. It's multi-layered, with repercussions rippling outwards....The near two-hour runtime doesn't drag and whilst there might not be the lead charisma, cleverness, wit perhaps or sheer scale of the very best US blockbuster, there are many memorable twists and turns and has a gritty sense of realism. Anyone currently in the U.K riding on the high of, say, Wallander, won't be disappointed. I'm now very much looking forward to seeing the other two parts.

Polaris_DiB A man escapes from prison. He then tries to meet his old contacts and re-organize his underground inner circle involving drugs and revolution. However, he does this only to find that most of his fellows-in-arms are either dead, locked up, or have abandoned the revolutionary lifestyle and *GASP!* sold-out by getting families and jobs! Discovering this lack of societal significance, he is eventually forced to flee the country, after which he both literally and symbolically falls into a gap of nothingness. Aw, what a shame.(That's it, by the way. That's the whole movie. Erm... spoiler alert?)As a technical treat and a minimalist story, it has its value and it is interesting to watch. It's just a little obnoxious to follow a movie about a person grasping to uphold his values only to "randomly" (as a point) fall into a blank hole. I get it, but I don't care for it.--PolarisDiB

canoecarrier This is probably the best place to start on Belvaux's incredible trilogy. On its own, it is a more than satisfying thriller, starring the director. But in context with the accompanying two films, one has to wonder where this guy has been hiding all this time. As the story unfolds you start to learn more and more of the lead character's persona, his motivations and his potential for destruction. This is no ordinary "action" film where the hero can do no wrong. At each corner it seems that his world is about to explode. Some people may be dissatisfied with the ending, but I think that it's exactly where the story has to go. And this is born out when you see the other two parts, Un Couple epatant and Apres la vie. If this trilogy gets the recognition it deserves, I'm sure it will be referred to as the cinematic masterpiece that it is, along with recent films like Memento and Amores Perros.