Quick Look: Tell No One (2006)

Tell No One is an excellent French film, that I highly recommend seeing.  It is based on the book of the same name, written by American author Harlan Coben.  It is directed by Guillaume Canet, and stars Francois Cluzet and Marie-Josee Croze.  It is not rated, but I would treat like an 'R' for language, violence, and brief nudity.  The language spoken is French.

Alexandre Beck (Cluzet) is arriving at a depressing anniversary.  It has been 8 years since his wife Margot (Croze) was murdered, and the killer was never caught.  He is portrayed as a man ready to move on, but with still a touch of grieving widow.  Except something strange happens on the anniversary day - he receives an email from her.  It has a video clip attached to it, and she appears to be alive and well.  The narrative warns him to 'tell no one' about her message and that they are both being watched.

**spoiler alert**

2 persons are soon murdered where his wife's body was found those 8 years ago, so the police who suspected him of his wife's murder (but could not prove it), now suspect Alex's involvement in this recent crime.  It turns out there is, in fact, a conspiracy at hand, and Alex becomes a Hitchcockian "wrong man".

A friend of Alex's is soon killed and the police get a warrant for his arrest, so he must go on the run from both the "bad guys" (who we still do not know what their motives are), and the police; all while trying to prove his innocence in multiple crimes, as well as discover what happened to his wife, and where is she now.  All roads appear to lead back to that night 8 years ago, and as Alex unravels the mystery we find that those closest to him were hiding dark secrets.

This is perfectly paced thrill ride that is extremely well directed, and the actors played out their roles beautifully, by all involved.  Even though it is a foreign film and I needed to read the subtitles, it is like my mind took over, becoming so engrossed with the story that when it was over, I almost forgot that I had been reading them, all along.  The action sequences (namely Alex escaping both the police and the bad guys) are all very believable, which often is not the case in films similar to this one.  The characters were all developed to the point that you felt attached to them, yet this movie did not drag with unneeded fluff.  The plot unfolded in such a way as not to leave elements left for the audience to either have to guess or to have to "suspend the disbelief" of what transpired, and the ending was perfect.  It is rare feat for all elements (story, acting, directing, production, music) to all come together, and Tell No One is definitely one of these films.

Final Thought: I have read Coben's book, which was excellent, and normally book to movie adaptions have to "lose" something to insure on-screen time constraints are met, but I can honestly say that the film is as good as the book.  Any elements that were altered, actually might have worked to make the film more believable.  Coben himself has also praised the movie.
There is an American production of this movie in the works now, which I do not believe will measure up to this one, as no American remake I have ever watched stood up to its foreign counterpart.