{"id":1161,"date":"2011-08-09T10:40:42","date_gmt":"2011-08-09T10:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/?p=1161"},"modified":"2011-08-09T10:40:42","modified_gmt":"2011-08-09T10:40:42","slug":"the-big-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/drama\/the-big-picture\/","title":{"rendered":"The Big Picture ****"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Rugged French actor Romain Duris<\/a> came to international attention as charismatic professional relationship hacker Alex Lippi in Heartbreaker<\/em><\/a>, opposite Vanessa Paradis<\/a> last year. The unconventionally handsome actor has found a cheeky charmer niche it seems as lawyer Paul Exben in Eric Lartigau<\/a>\u2019s adaptation of Douglas Kennedy<\/a>\u2019s novel The Big Picture<\/em><\/a>, a drama rather than a comedy this time that allows him to tap into a more serious acting side.<\/p>\n

Paul Exben (Duris) is a success story – partner in one of Paris’s most exclusive law firms with respected Anna (Catherine Deneuve<\/a>), big salary, big house, glamorous wife and two sons. But when he finds out that Sarah (Marina Fo\u00efs<\/a>), his wife, is cheating on him with Gr\u00e9goire Kremer (Eric Ruf<\/a>), a local photographer, a rush of blood provokes Paul into a fatal error. Standing over the corpse of his wife’s lover, Paul knows that his perfect life has gone for good. But by assuming the dead man’s identity and fleeing for an isolated part of former Yugoslavia on the beautiful Adriatic coast, Paul gets another shot at being himself and, at last, seeing the big picture.<\/p>\n

Even though very European in nature, the first irony is this is an adaptation of a US novel, rather than the other way around \u2013 as is more often the case. It\u2019s evolved into an engaging, volatile French tragedy, a love triangle that breathes joie de vivre, passion, dark secrets and impulsive actions. But what starts out as playful and decadent, with Duris very comfortable in the \u2018amicable fool\u2019 role we are more familiar with him in, turns into something darker and uglier as forced self-reinvention changes the path of the narrative, which is beautifully paced to take in the stunning scenery \u2013 the big picture \u2013 along the way.<\/p>\n

The second irony is untrained Duris was also on a different life course when director C\u00e9dric Klapisch<\/a> discovered him in the street one day, and cast him in Le p\u00e9ril jeune<\/a><\/em> in 1994. Like his character in this, who takes another\u2019s identity, Duris as Exben as Kremer finds great, overnight success. The bittersweet plight is Exben as Kremer cannot afford to revel in it, for fear of his real identity being exposed. Duris, on the other hand, will find nothing but praise as Exben as he expresses the full, tortured emotions of being in such a dilemma, but with practicality, rather than melodrama, and never allows us to forget Exben\u2019s inner turmoil of the family life lost, or our empathy would also diminish.<\/p>\n

This is not a thriller like The Fugitive<\/a><\/em>, but a taut, semi-crime drama about one man\u2019s choices and second chances that is meticulously planned out to cover all possible slip-ups. Hence, when Exben as Kremer hits the road, the journey is as a yet-unknown fugitive going with the flow \u2013 not running from the law. There is only one meeting with the police, which is done as a nice twist. Do not expect a Hollywood-style action-mystery. This is not Bourne<\/a><\/em>, but more Michelangelo Antonioni<\/a>\u2019s The Passenger<\/em><\/a>, starring Jack Nicholson<\/a>, about one man grabbing a chance opportunity to survive the way he feels he should. Events that happen to Exben as Kremer evolve naturally.<\/p>\n

The only slightly uneven part of the whole affair is the ending that makes sense in allowing Exben to remain as Kremer, but seems like a totally different film conclusion bolted on. It\u2019s only because we have been pre-conditioned to all Exben\u2019s traits and skills and still see him as a man who has turned bad luck into good that it remains somewhat believable. Indeed, it does allow the Exben film saga to continue \u2013 should that be an option.<\/p>\n

This is a fitting second film for Duris that expands his acting arsenal, showing him in a tenser scenario, but still allowing that boisterous nature to shine through at moments. The lure of Deneuve in a supporting role, after the raging success of last month\u2019s Potiche<\/em><\/a>, will ensure Duris gets far more deserved attention \u2013 and rightly so, as he\u2019s fast proving he has the star quality to carry a film title alone.<\/p>\n

4\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

By @FilmGazer<\/p>\n

Follow on Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rugged French actor Romain Duris came to international attention as charismatic professional relationship hacker Alex Lippi in Heartbreaker, opposite Vanessa Paradis last year. The unconventionally handsome actor has found a cheeky charmer niche it seems as lawyer Paul Exben in Eric Lartigau\u2019s adaptation of Douglas Kennedy\u2019s novel The Big Picture, a drama rather than a … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Big Picture ****”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,103],"tags":[1154,1304,1302,1301,1303,1299,1310,1297,1305,115,1308,1152,1298,1296,1307,1306,1309,1300],"class_list":["post-1161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drama","category-foreign-language","tag-catherine-deneuve","tag-cedric-klapisch","tag-douglas-kennedy","tag-eric-lartigau","tag-eric-ruf","tag-heartbreaker","tag-jack-nicholson","tag-lhomme-qui-voulait-vivre-sa-vie","tag-le-peril-jeune","tag-marina-fois","tag-michelangelo-antonioni","tag-potiche","tag-romain-duris","tag-the-big-picture","tag-the-bourne-identity","tag-the-fugitive","tag-the-passenger","tag-vanessa-paradis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1161"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1164,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1161\/revisions\/1164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}