Alain Attal Movies

Actor Guillaume Canet, best known to American audiences for his work in The Beach, makes his directorial debut with the dark comedy, Mon idole. Canet also stars in the film as Bastien, an ambitious young man working as an assistant to Philippe Letzger (Philippe Lefebvre, who co-wrote the script with Canet and Eric Naggar) the overbearing host of a raucous, exploitative Jerry Springer-like game/talk show called It's Tissue Time! in which the goal is to make the contestants cry. Bastien warms up the audience and runs errands for Letzger, in addition to coming up with helpful ideas for the network, which Letzger takes credit for. Bastien puts up with Letzger's abuse because he wants to work with his idol, the show's impossibly suave producer, Jean-Louis Broustal (François Berléand). To Bastien's surprise, Broustal stops ignoring him one day, and starts taking an interest in the young man's ideas. Bastien lives with his girlfriend, Fabienne (Clotilde Courau), who's tired of hearing about how wonderful Broustal is. And Bastien is torn when he realizes that the pretty blond he's been admiring around the office is Broustal's young wife, Clara (Diane Kruger). Things take a strange turn for Bastien when Broustal invites him out for a night on the town that quickly turns into a weekend at the couple's remote country estate. Clara quickly gets Bastien alone and beds him, and Broustal doesn't seem to mind. Broustal makes a lot of promises about Bastien's future in television, but what does the couple want from him? As the weekend progresses, their motives seem increasingly bizarre and even sinister. Mon idole was nominated for César Awards for Best First Film and for Berléand's performance. It was shown at Lincoln Center in New York as part of their 2003 Rendez-vous with French Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

An innocent man is on the run after he's accused of murder and his spouse seemingly returns from the grave in this thriller from France. Alex Beck (François Cluzet) is a doctor who has slowly been putting his life back together after his wife Margot was murdered by a serial killer. Eight years on, Alex is doing well enough until he finds himself implicated in the murder of two people, with plenty of evidence pointing to him as the killer even though he knows nothing of the crimes. The same day, Alex receives an e-mail that appears to be from Margot (Marie-Josée Croze), which includes a link to a video clip that seems to be recent and features his late wife looking alive and well. Margot's message warns Alex that they are both being watched, and he struggles to stay one step ahead of the law as a gang of strong-arm men intimidate Alex's friends into telling whatever they might know about him. Alex's sister Anne (Marina Hands) persuades her well-to-do lover Helene (Kristin Scott Thomas) to hire a well respected attorney, Elisabeth Feldman (Nathalie Baye), to handle Alex's case. While Elisabeth tries to keep Alex out of jail, she learns that her client has a warrant out for his arrest, and Alex goes on the lam while he and his lawyer struggle to find out the truth about the murder as well as Margot's reappearance. Tell No One (aka Ne Le Dis a Personne) was based on the international best-selling novel by Harlan Coben. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The population of the City of Lights is reduced to two in this offbeat comedy from France. Gervais (Eric Judor) is a police detective who one morning discovers that the city of Paris has been mysteriously abandoned, with almost nobody to be seen. The only other person Gervais runs across happens to be Curtis (Ramzy Bedia), a wanted criminal Gervais has been tracking for some time. Even though there aren't any fellow officers on hand to help handle the arrest, Gervais is determined to capture Curtis anyway, especially since there isn't much else to do, and the two pursue one another through the empty streets (with Curtis occasionally giving chase in a race car). In time, Gervais and Curtis grow tired of shouting and running after one another and they begin to wonder if the bad karma they're generating has something to do with the empty streets. Seuls Two (aka Two Alone In Paris) was directed by Eric Judor and Ramzy Bedia, who also contributed to the screenplay as well as playing Gervais and Curtis; it was their first project behind the camera. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A handful of old friends make some unexpected discoveries about one another in this comedy-drama from French writer and director Guillaume Canet. Eight pals who are settling into middle age have observed an annual tradition for years in which they get together to enjoy some vacation time. However, fate puts a damper on this year's gathering when one of the group, Ludo (Jean Dujardin), ends up in the hospital after an auto accident. His friends decide to go away together anyway, but Ludo's troubles portend a week of difficult feelings and awkward situations. Max (Francois Cluzet), who is paying host this year at his summer home, is startled by a declaration of love from Vincent (Benoit Magimel), which comes as an unwelcome surprise to the married and very straight Max. Meanwhile, Marie (Marion Cotillard), Eric (Gilles Lellouche), and Antoine (Laurent Lafitte) are all dealing with various forms of romantic disappointment, and seemingly everyone has a skeleton in the closet that he or she is hiding from the group. Les Petits Mouchoirs (aka Little White Lies) received its world premiere at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi