Gérald Laroche Movies

A man dealing with a variety of crises learns his brother may have even more troubles than he does in this drama from director Denis Dercourt. Mathieu Guibert (Vincent Perez) is a musician who has sunk into a swamp of anxiety and depression, aggravated by a difficult relationship with his booking agent and former wife Jeanne (Anne Marivin) and the news that his mother (Francoise Lebrun) has been diagnosed with cancer. When Mathieu's mother warns him that his brother Paul (Jeremie Renier) has developed some strange hobbies, Mathieu looks in on him and learns Paul has joined a group that reenacts military campaigns from the era of Napoleon. Mathieu regards Paul's new pastime as eccentric but not dangerous until he meets a self-proclaimed Captain (Aurelien Recoing) who challenges Mathieu to a duel -- using real weapons. Demain des l'aube (aka Tomorrow At Dawn) was an official selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the "Un Certain Regard" program. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A cop on the edge of an emotional collapse is on the trail of a violent madman in this edgy crime thriller from French writer and director Olivier Marchal. Charles Subra (Philippe Nahon) is a habitual criminal who, after serving twenty-five years in prison on a sentence for rape and murder, is up for parole. While Charles insists he's seen the error of his ways and wants to repay society for his crimes, Justine (Olivia Bonamy) isn't buying it -- Charles murdered her mother and father while she watched, and she writes him a long letter explaining in detail why she wants him to stay behind bars. Charles is granted parole anyway, but it soon becomes clear that the clever criminal fooled the prison authorities -- he still has a taste for murder and wants to kill again, starting with Justine. Louis Schneider (Daniel Auteuil) is a police detective who meets with Justine and helps protect her from the madman on the loose, but he's not the best man for the job these days -- shattered by the sudden death of his wife and child and haunted by a serious of brutal murders he's been investigating, Louis's psyche is in tatters and he's only marginally more stable than the criminal he's trying to catch. Director and screenwriter Olivier Marchal was inspired to make MR 73 by his own experiences as a police officer in the early '80s; the title is police slang for the Manurhin 73, a standard handgun for French beat cops in the '70s and '80s. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Writer/director Samuel Benchetrit takes the helm for this laid-back crime comedy that weaves together four stories which all eventually convene at a roadside diner. Franck (Edouard Baer) is a petty criminal who is currently pondering the prospect of holding up a remote diner. When observant waitress Suzie (Anna Mouglalis) eventually realizes that Franck has more than a meal on his mind, she reveals that she too had considered robbing the place until getting disheartening peak at the anemic cash register. In the second story, desperate criminals Leon (Bouli Lanners) and Paul (Serge Lariviere) kidnap the daughter of a wealthy businessman in hopes of earning a tidy ransom, but soon find themselves forced to act as surrogate parents when the young girl is revealed to be suicidal. Later, after two aging rock stars (Alain Bashung and Arno) discuss their careers over a meal at the diner, four former gangsters smuggle an old friend out of the hospital for a nostalgic trip to their former hideout, only to discover that the familiar log cabin has long since been razed and replaced with a modest diner that provides no means for lying low. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director David Oelhoeffen's French-language picture Nos retrouvailles - a resolutely disturbing psychological drama with an added element of crime - explores the damage wrought by an über-dysfunctional father on his straight-laced son. Jacques Gamblin stars as Gabriel, a thuggish character harboring an irrepressible grudge over money that someone allegedly swiped from him. With bitterness in his heart, this thoughtless and slimy brute cajoles his innocent son, the dishwasher Marco (Nicolas Giraud) into first tailing a night watchman (Jacques Spiesser) and then breaking into a warehouse to reclaim the "funds" - despite the inherent dangers posed by this scheme. Oelhoeffen co-authored the script with Antoine Lacomblez. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A mobster and a taxi driver give a new definition to the phrase "horse race" in this low-key comedy drama. Réno (Serge Riaboukine) is a second-rate gangster whose attempted big deals haven't been especially successful lately. Réno is losing bets at a racetrack when he spies a horse named Capone, owned by some mod cronies, who looks to have the makings of a winner. Figuring the horse could earn a guy a few solid paydays, Réno commandeers a horse trailer, urges Capone inside, and then hails a cab, driven by Alex (Gérald Laroche). Réno hitches the trailer to Alex's cab and convinces him to drive the horse to Lapland, where Réno can set Capone up in a few races. The tidy and methodical Alex doesn't much case for the sloppy, chain-smoking Réno at first, but the two begin to warm to one another as the miles go by, and they find some adventure along the way as they meet up with gypsies, innkeepers, and revelers at a all-night "midnight sun" party. However, it isn't long before Réno's bosses find out what he's done, and they give chase as they try to recover Capone. Originally produced for French television, Capone received its American premiere at the 2004 Seattle Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Four prisoners sharing the same cramped cell make a discovery that could help them escape from even the most high security prison if it doesn't split their world wide open first. Carrere is an ambitious company director serving time for fraud, Marcus is a thirty-five year old transsexual on course to becoming a real woman, Daisy is a mentally deficient servant, and Lassalle is a sixty year old intellectual who murdered his wife of many years. Together, these lawless misfits do their best to serve their time without losing their minds. One day, after discovering a loose stone slab in their cell, the four incarcerated convicts unearth the diary of a former prisoner named Danvers who occupied the exact same cell at the turn of the century. According to the diary, there exist magic formulas so powerful than any prisoner could use them to escape. Later, when the men attempt to decipher the formulas, the entire prison becomes a terrifying cauldron of bizarre phenomena. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

One man's desire to better himself and improve his family's station in life has dire and unexpected consequences in this realistic thriller. Pierre (Gerald Laroche) is a worker in a glass factory whose small stature and quiet demeanor do not disguise the fact that he wants his wife Carole (Luce Mouchel) and son Victor (Bastien Le Roy) to have the good things in life, and he's not afraid to work hard to get them. When Pierre learns that a position is open on the plant's night shift that would pay better, he requests to be transferred, but he soon discovers that the late-shift staff is a different breed than the co-workers he's used to -- especially Fred (Marc Barbe), a large and arrogant man who alternately glad-hands Pierre for his friendship and treats him with contempt. Pierre takes great pains to be civil with Fred, but when Pierre gets a promotion and Fred does not, Fred explodes with rage, and the two find themselves in a vicious argument that stops just short of a fist fight. Before long, Pierre finds himself back in Fred's good graces, and the other workers are friendlier with him, even offering to help Pierre with a home improvement project. But in time Pierre discovers that what looks like friendship is actually part of a sinister and carefully orchestrated attempt on Fred's part to get revenge. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Clara (Karin Viard) is a stripper with a high-strung, jealous boyfriend with the curious name of Loockeed (Antoine Chappey). The couple are friends with the even-temperred, almost saintly Max (Gerald Laroche), an auto mechanic. The three of them set out from their home in the north to journey to the Alpine mountains near Switzerland and Italy, where they will help a fourth friend take care of his pleasure boat business at Lake Annecy while he is in military service. As the trio attempt to establish some sort of equilibrium in their new lives, Max must constantly deal with Loockeed's testy, jealous barbs. Despite this, the three of them remain friends. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi