Love Crime (2011)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on October 9, 2011 @ tonymacklin.net.

Love Crime is a slick French cinema croissant filled with sweet and sour revenge.

Part way through, you wonder what is going on. You simply aren't sure where it's going.

It all falls into place at the end -- perhaps a bit too neatly -- but for a while it's engagingly baffling.

Love Crime, subtitled in English, begins with a one-sided battle of wits between Christine (Kristen Scott Thomas) a powerful business executive and Isabelle (Ludivine Sagnier), her vulnerable young assistant.

It escalates from playful manipulation to humiliation. The young woman's attempt at revenge is messy and seemingly unsatisfying. But it evolves.

Isabelle is a victim of love. She falls "victim of wicked circumstances." But does she really?

Kristen Scott Thomas is excellent as the cool, mean-spirited, and calculating executive. And Ludivine Sagnier is effective as her foil.

Patrick Mille portrays Philippe, the vapid love object who is out of his depth with the two warring women.

Director Alain Corneau co-wrote Love Crime with Nathalie Carter. Their script slips, slides, and lurches. But it has some panache. Corneau died shortly after making the film.

Love Crime may not leave much of an aftertaste, but while you're experiencing it, it's savory.

© 2000-2023 Tony Macklin