Georges Benayoun Movies

Directed by Paul McGuigan, Wicker Park follows Chicago businessman Matthew's (Josh Hartnett) return to Windy City life after having dedicated two years of his life to mourning his long lost love Lisa (Diane Kruger), who'd mysteriously vanished from his life. Things are finally looking up again for Matthew; his career is in full swing, and he's thinking of becoming engaged -- that is, until he thinks he's spotted his former lover in a restaurant. Almost immediately, Matthew puts the brakes on his marriage plans and his career in order to conduct an exhaustive search for his old flame. Obsessed, he barely notices the psychologically devastating trap his quest is leading him into -- a danger that only grows when he meets an enigmatic stranger (Rose Byrne). Wicker Park features Matthew Lillard and Jessica Paré in supporting roles. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Two strangers share a strange and terrible bond in this stylish horror tale that juggles sex and graphic bloodshed. Shane Brown (Vincent Gallo) is a strange man with a forbidding nature who has just married lovely but nervous June (Tricia Vessey), and they've decided to go to Paris for their honeymoon. In the City of Lights, a beautiful but dangerous woman named Core (Beatrice Dalle) has been leaving a trail of dead bodies in her wake when she's captured by Leo Semeneau (Alex Descas), a mysterious scientist who spirits her away to his estate. As Core is placed under guard, Semeneau leaves to return to the city for an unnamed assignment; we soon learn that one of Shane's reasons for coming to Paris was to find him and retrieve some important information. In time, we also discover that Shane and Core have something rather unusual in common -- both are murderous cannibals who regularly feast on the flesh of their victims, and Semeneau's information may hold the key to the secret behind their deadly appetite. Trouble Every Day generated a certain amount of controversy in its screenings at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, where a number of patrons walked out in disgust at the film's intense blend of sensuality and cannibalism. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Two people on opposite sides of the law are brought together under unusual circumstances in this thriller. Lea (Elsa Zylberstein) is a young woman with a checkered past who has just finished a stretch in prison and is waiting for her teenaged brother, Sammy (Vincent Martinez), to pick her up. As it turns out, Sammy has been nurturing an impressive criminal career of his own, and he's killed in an ambush with plainclothes police officers within Lea's sight. Traumatized, Lea isn't sure where to turn, and finds solace in the arms of David (Richard Berry), a police detective who is dealing with a crisis of his own -- he confiscated two kilos of heroin during a drug bust, which ruthless criminal, Zak (Pascal Greggory), is demanding as ransom after kidnapping David's nine-month-old son. While their tragedies have brought them together, what Lea doesn't know is that David is the policeman who shot her brother, and soon they both find themselves at odds with one another's allies in the French criminal underworld. Un Ange was a rare foray into theatrical filmmaking for established television director Miguel Courtois. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Frederic Jardin directs this enjoyably nasty showbiz farce starring a veritable who's who of Gallic comedy. Elderly milquetoast Jacques Soeur (Denis Podalydes) has written a 450-page tome which his brother Charlies Souer (Jose Garcia) longs to direct. After making no progress in the tried and true method of hawking to studio execs, the two brothers take to videotaping producer Francis France (Jackie Berroyer) engaging in a little extramarital merry-making. When confronted with the incriminating evidence, France sends his thick-headed thug out to retrieve the master tape, with unforeseen consequences. Meanwhile, the duo kidnap renowned screenwriter Blaise (Edouard Baer) to slick up their script, not realizing that Blaise is an unrepentant smack fiend. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

One man's pursuit of life, liberty, and a green card sets the stage for this comedy-drama. Ali (Said Taghmaoui) was born in Egypt but has come to England in hopes of finding his fortune. Nothing if not industrious, Ali juggles several low-paying jobs: He works in a Middle Eastern restaurant, writes screenplays, helps redub Arabic-language movies into English, and gives belly dancing lessons. In the grand tradition of dance instructors, Ali is also having an affair with one of his students, Vivienne (Clementine Celarie), a middle-aged art dealer who refuses to take no for an answer. Ali is kicked out of his rooming house after several of his neighbor's sexual peccadilloes pop up in one of his scripts, and to add insult to injury, Ali is informed that his visa is about to run out and may not be extended. Needing a place to stay, Ali accepts an offer from Mark (Rupert Graves), a photographer who will give him a room and some cash in exchange for posing for photos to be used in a gay-themed magazine. Wanting to stay in England, Ali's less than scrupulous friend Ahmed (Karim Belkhadra) says he can arrange a marriage with a British citizen that would help him gain citizenship, but the price is 5,000 pounds, more than Ali can afford. Ali soon meets Linda (Juliette Lewis), an American expatriate who does a nightclub act as Marilyn Monroe; Linda likes Ali, and is willing to marry him for a mere 3,000 pounds, though Ali still has no idea how to come up with the money. Room to Rent was the first feature from writer/director Khaled Al Haggar, who is himself an Egyptian immigrant living and working in London. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

British TV screenwriter Kay Mellor debuts with this quirky screwball comedy. The film opens with romance novelist Kate (Kerry Fox) crashing her VW bug into the gleaming Jaguar of car salesman Dave (Ray Winstone), resulting in an insult-barbed screamfest. They both enter the same pub, where they learn that Kate's husband is leaving her for Dave's young buxom wife (his third). The distraught Kate seeks solace and cheer from Andrew (Ben Daniels), her gay actor friend and housemate. When Dave's wife changes the locks, he cuts a deal with Kate, who still intensely dislikes the man: if he can stay in her spare room, she can forget about the outlandishly high bill to repair his damaged Jag. Soon, of course, love blooms when Kate realizes that Dave is no mere car salesman: he is a loving father to his six kids from previous marriages and an avid reader of the classics. Things seem peachy until Dave mysteriously disappears. Fanny and Elvis was screened at the 1999 Dinard Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Finnish director Ilkka Jarvilaturi directs an international cast in this deadpan post-Cold War spy farce. Jaded CIA veteran Harry (Bill Pullman) and young SVR agent Natasha (Irene Jacob) are on-again off-again lovers who have little to do in Helsinki except spy on one another, until a courier (Bruno Kirby) shows up with a porno tape bearing top-secret US satellite codes. Natasha wants the tape to get her psychotic boss (Udo Kier) off her back, while Harry needs it to placate his Boy Scout colleague fresh from spy school. History is Made at Night was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Olivier Assayas directed this French drama, examining several relationships over a year's span, capturing varying textures and shades of feeling between people from late August of one year until early September of the next. Gabriel (Mathieu Amalric) and Jenny (Jeanne Balibar) separate, despite the affection that still binds them. A new love develops between Gabriel and young designer Anne (Virginie Ledoyen) as they overcome their fears and uncertainties. At his publishing job, much of Gabriel's emotional energy is spent on his close friend Adrien (Francois Cluzet), a once-promising novelist whose recent writing failed to repeat the critical and commercial success of his early novels. Jenny, who remains friends with Adrien, embarks on a new relationship with Jeremie (Alex Descas). When an old illness reappears, Adrien must come to terms with an early death; he begins an affair with 15-year-old schoolgirl Vera (Mia Hansen-Love). The personal tragedy of Adrien's death impacts on the fabric of friendships, as the individuals in the group reflect on death, life, and the future. Jeanne Balibar's performance won her the "Best Actress" award at the 1998 San Sebastian Film Festival. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival and the 1998 New York Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

On the eve of near-future Northern Ireland's first general election, well-marketed reformer Michael Brinn (Robert Lindsay), a shoo-in for prime minister, has newspaper columnist Dan Starkey's dander up. Working the election beat alongside visiting Boston Globe writer Charles Parker (Richard Gant), Starkey (David Thewlis) watches his pointed barbs slide off Brinn's Teflon-coated backside. Drowning his troubles in drink in a Belfast park, Starkey invites beautiful art student Margaret (Laura Fraser) to a friend's party, unaware of her ties to both the IRA and to Brinn's political party. When Starkey's wife (Laine Megaw) catches him canoodling with Margaret, she kicks Starkey out and he ends up in Margaret's bed. When the girl turns up mortally wounded a mere day later, mouthing the words "divorcing Jack" just before her death rattle, Starkey finds himself a suspect in the murder. Donning a ridiculous wig and going on the lam, he must fend off a nationwide manhunt while tracing the connection between Margaret's death and the upcoming election. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, this British/French co-production marked director David Caffrey's feature debut. Irish writer Colin Bateman adapted his own novel, one of several to feature Starkey as a protagonist. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Parisienne mother Mathilde (Sandrine Kiberlain), who shares a large apartment with her surgeon husband Nico (Vincent Lindon), sometimes works at the legal business run by her mother (Francine Berge). With a stagnant sex life, the bored Mathilde prowls department stores to steal toys for her son. At a party with Nico, she realizes she's being watched by a doctor (Francois Berleand), and she spots him on the metro the following day. He tells her he's a psychiatrist, and they have their first session in a deserted restaurant. While the doctor's cure does appear to work for Mathilde, there's a trade-off: Nico's behavior becomes increasingly abnormal. This film has no connection to the earlier (1927, 1937) Hollywood films with the same title. Shown at the Venice and Toronto film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A Cockney thug becomes a daddy just before he and his two colleagues are supposed to put the screws to some unfortunate deadbeat. The new dad decides that he has had enough killing and wants to start anew. Unfortunately, his partners have other plans, as does his boss who is angry that the thug killed one of his best customers. This black comedy is filled with cartoonish but intense violence and very coarse language. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, layers and layers of personal lies provide the glue that holds a trendy, shallow group of Parisians together. The story centers on Ada, a deeply indebted, but promising young fashion designer who has just purchased an apartment with her lover and holds a housewarming party to celebrate. The bulk of the story unfolds episodically as assorted neurotic characters come to call and begin to intermingle. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This realistic and disturbingly grim French drama centers on a May/December romance that goes tragically awry resulting in a brutal murder. The dark tale begins in Dunkirk where police inspectors attempt to reconstruct the murder of Frederique who is found sodomized by a broomstick and stabbed to death on a kitchen table. The killer is Christophe who stands around in total, numb shock. It is Frederique's teenage daughter who tells of the terrible romance in a statement to police. Christophe was 28 when he met the ten-years-older Frederique at a wedding. Both successful professionals, sparks fly and soon begin courting. Eventually they become lovers, but are only briefly happy before large fissures appear in their relationship. Christophe loves her, but does not want an exclusive relationship. Frederique, who has already been twice divorced wants more and becomes bitter when it doesn't happen. They fight and it is during their break up that the tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide