Tell No One

What makes a thriller? How can one define it? A strong answer comes in the form of 'Tell No One', the directorial effort by French actor/director Guillaume Canet. After nearly two years on the festival circuit, the film finally came to the states this summer where it enjoyed immediate praise and respectful silence, from those who'd seen it, on the plot details. Watching 'Tell No One', you start to feel grateful for it. Based on the novel by Harlan Coben, the film opens slowly with our hero, Alex, established as a man still trying to move on after he was beaten and his wife murdered at a remote lake in the French countryside eight years earlier. New details in the case compel police to reopen the case, with Alex as the prime suspect.
From here, the plot accelerates at a pace that's difficult to keep up with at first. There are new characters thrust upon us and the details of the crime put us in a spin where we're not sure if Alex is completely sympathetic. But Canet builds it all so smoothly and with such an element of danger that we're left begging for what we know will be a fantastic climax. Canet owes a debt to the paranoia thrillers of the '60's and '70's. With the exception of one nail-biting foot chase and one violent hostage rescue, all the suspense comes from watching the details come to light as Alex gets himself further in over his head. Like any great urban thriller, 'Tell No One' strengthens it's cat and mouse feel by shooting on location. Like 'Dirty Harry' did for San Francisco and 'Heat' did for Los Angeles, the movie gives us a real feel for the size of Paris and presents it as a character in and of itself.
Much like 'Memento', so much of the film rests on it's worn and weary lead. Francois Cluzet succeeds totally at giving us a character so hell bent on finding where this path will lead him; and succeeds maybe even further than Guy Pearce at playing a man so brokenhearted, he thinks that the path may be the only thing that can save him. He's an astonishing lead (and an astonishingly young 53), and still only one of a phenomenal cast of actors (watch for the female assassin; giving a terrifyingly dark, inhuman performance). The film is aided with a subtle melancholy score; and pained, international pop songs to try to let us feel Alex's pain. In the film's most affective sequence, U2's 'With Or Without You' plays loudly and proudly as Alex runs for some sudden, unknown destination. It's an easy target; but like the rest of 'Tell No One', Canet leaves us so wondering where it's going that it feels right on.