Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

gridoon2018 The first half of "Roman De Gare" is riveting: the way writer-director Claude Lelouch, aided and abetted by Dominique Pinon's masterfully ambivalent performance, keeps us considering several different possibilities, and expecting the worst, brings to mind the classic Alfred Hitchcock rule about how suspense is created when you show the bomb WITHOUT having it explode. But after one key question is answered, the film loses some momentum, and the final revelations are not quite as thrilling as you'd wish them to be. Still, it's beautifully photographed, and the two women completing the main acting trio - newcomer Audrey Dana and veteran Fanny Ardant - are also exceptional. **1/2 out of 4.

Amy Adler Judith Ralitzer (Fanny Ardant) is a major French writer, or so the world thinks. The truth is that another writer, Pierre (Dominique Pinon) has been "ghosting" her books for seven years. The duo are to meet in Cannes to discuss their future endeavors. Ms. Ralitzer was also once married to a wealthy vineyard owner who died relatively young. Did she have anything to do with his death? Meanwhile, Huguette (Audrey Dana) is traveling with her doctor-fiancé to her parents' home in southern France. Alas, they have a big fight and Huguette is abandoned by her intended at a petrol station. In the station's coffee shop, she meets a kind gentleman who offers her a ride. What she doesn't know is that a serial killer, who employed magic tricks to snare his victims, has escaped from a French prison. Should she accept this stranger's offer? At this same moment, too, a Parisian wife reports that her husband is missing and doesn't know which way to turn. However, she does like the looks of the detective assigned to the case! This is an intriguing film with plenty of energy and suspense. The cast is quite nice, also, with Ardant giving a nice turn as the arrogant writer. Dana, too, makes a beautiful, mixed-up heroine. Pinon does not have the looks of a leading man but is quite fine as the major male lead while the rest of the cast is more than adequate. Naturally, the scenery in France is beautiful but one might be surprised at the rustic nature of Huguette's family abode where there is not the least hint of sophistication. One must also compliment the well-chosen costumes, the fascinating script and the sure direction of Claude Leloush. If you are searching for a film that will render an alternative movie experience from the standard Hollywood fare, do roam to the theater and plunk down some dough for this one. You will not be disappointed.

Terrell-4 What is this? A thriller? A murder mystery? A romance? A way to pass the next two hours or so? It's all of these, as the title tells us. Roman de Gare is also an intricate, fascinating and very amusing story with so many cleverly overlapping threads you'll need to pay attention. There's Judith Ralitzer (Fanny Ardant) a best-selling author of popular novels. Wait...there's also her ghostwriter, Pierre Laclos (Dominique Pinon), who seems to have gone missing, perhaps permanently. There's Huguette (Audrey Dana), bruised around the edges and abandoned at a service station stop by her fiancée, who drives off with her car, her purse, her money and her identification. There's a schoolteacher who leaves his wife and kids. His wife turns out to be Pierre Laclos' sister. She finds solace by sharing Laclos' bed in his abandoned apartment below hers with the police officer that started out looking into her husband's disappearance and now is investigating the possible murder of Laclos by Judith Ralitzer. Got all that? I almost forgot. There's also an escaped pedophile/rapist/murderer on the loose. We don't know what he looks like, but he loves to do the same kind of magic tricks for young girls that the man who may be Laclos likes to perform. When the possibly Laclos character meets Huguette, offers a ride and agrees to play her fiancé and meet Huguette's family, we're now in the kind of farm that makes Cold Comfort Farm look tidy. We listen to a jaunty, happy tune sung by, is it Laclos or not?, and Huguette as they go to fish for trout, while in the background we can hear the terrified squeals of a hog being butchered by her family. Roman de Gare is a delight. And all the while the man who may or not be Pierre Laclos is dictating notes in his pocket recorder. There's going to be a book in this somewhere. Will it be a new bestseller for Judith Ralitzer? Perhaps a book by a new author named Pierre Laclos. Might depend on who survives. Fanny Ardant is intriguing, complex and has no trouble at all commanding the camera, but it is Dominique Pinon who carries us along. He's short, with a large head and squashed features. No one would call him handsome, much less a leading man, and yet that is what he turns out to be. One of his earliest movies was Diva in 1981. He had a supporting role as a short, ugly, vicious hood. His looks have mellowed a little at 52. His talent, however, has taken over. It's a pleasure to see how he takes this role and turns it into a whole catalogue of subtle emotions and possibilities. He keeps us thinking that his character could be a real problem, yet we wind up liking him the more we see him. He might even get the girl, but which one, and dead or alive? It's a wonderful performance. Keep in mind what roman de gare means...the kind of trashy, glossy thriller we pick up at the airport to help pass the time. Director Claude Lelouch gives us a clever take on the form, with his tongue a bit in his cheek. It works superbly, in my view, most of the time. Roman de Gare is a great way to spend a couple of hours.

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. Excellent bit of storytelling and film-making from French master Claude Lelouche. This one has a bit of trickery in its approach and will force you to pay attention to details as you get the story and characters straight.With some similarities (but not quite at the level of) "Swimming Pool", this one crawls inside the mind of a novelist and we are treated to quite a ride! Magicians, Serial Killers, Runaway husbands, Suicide, Murder, Romantic affairs, Pig slaughter, Family quarrels ... well you get the idea. This one has much to offer and will keep your attention as you attempt to assemble all the pieces.Very strong acting from Dominique Pinon as Laclos. Pinon is not in the Hollywood tradition of leading men, but he is fascinating to behold. Myriam Boyer as the female lead is very strong in her less than balanced character who tries desperately to please her mother. Fanny Ardant has the pivotal role of the famous novelist, Judith Ralitzer, whose next novel brings all the characters to the cross tracks.If you enjoy a complicated, multi-faceted story line and some offbeat characters, then you will probably find the same level of enjoyment that I found.