Review: 'Tell No One'

French psychological thriller has a sleek cast but an overly complicated plot.

posted July 04, 2008 at 12:00 p.m. EDT

The French adore American crime movies and crime novels, although they often feel compelled to convert pulp into existentialism. Harlon Coen's novel "Tell No One" ("Ne le dis à personne") is the basis for this overly complicated but sometimes juicy Gallic psychological thriller, directed by Guillaime Canet and starring Francois Cluzet as a widower who, eight years after the unsolved bludgeoning death of his wife, is accused of her murder. Since it's clear from early on that the man is innocent, it falls upon him to prove it to the detectives who are hot on his heels. Canet has a good feeling for lowlife atmosphere and he works up a few fine Hitchcockian twirls. Kristin Scott Thomas and Nathalie Baye round out the sleek cast. Grade: B (Unrated.)