Patrick Bruel Movies

This intense French action saga concerns a group of five closely-knit but very different brothers, raised by a mother who grew too old too quickly, their father long dead. One spent years geographically separated from the family, but suddenly reappears under unusual circumstances, pursued by a gang of drug traffickers. He hides out among the others and reveals a secret unbeknownst to any of them. Now aware that their father was violently assassinated, the men band together and make a pact to avenge the patriarch's death. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Alternating between the unique vantage points of the Jews, the Arabs, and the British, director Elie Chouraqui's historical drama re-creates the landmark struggle surrounding the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. From the concrete jungle of New York City to the desert paradise of the Holy Land, two young Americans -- one Jewish and the other Arab -- are forced to make an incredible series of life-altering sacrifices in order to fight for their dreams. As the struggle for control of Jerusalem gets under way, the Jews, Arabs, and Brits must all address such difficult issues as terrorism, politics, courage, and deprivation with a newfound sense of honesty and urgency. Drawing inspiration from authors Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre's best-selling novel of the same name, O Jerusalem offers a textured commentary on a conflict that continues to stir controversy in the 21st century. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Claude Chabrol's Comedy of Power stars Isabelle Huppert as a French judge who attempts to bring down the very powerful but corrupt CEO of a large corporation. As she digs deeper into the case, she uncovers criminal activity that stretches into the highest levels of government, and her life is turned upside down by death threats as well as her sudden celebrity. The film follows as her career affects her family. Loosely based on real events, Comedy of Power had its North American debut at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Inspired by the experiences of a Spanish secret agent who infiltrated the Basque nationalist/separatist organization Euskadi Ta Askasasuna between 1973 and 1975, Miguel Courtois' tense docudrama stars Eduardo Noriega as Mikel Lejarza, aka El Lobo ("The Wolf"). In the politically turbulent 1970s, the ETA's extreme actions gave the conservative Franco regime all the reason they needed to shut down the democratic process in Spain. By infiltrating the ETA, El Lobo managed to effectively take down approximately one quarter of the terrorist activists within the organization. Not only that, but he also thwarted plans by terrorists to escape from prison and resume their reign of violence on the outside. Later, in order to escape the wrath of the ETA - who plastered posters of his likeness all across the Basque country - El Lobo would be forced to change his identity and vanish without a trace. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Gilles Paquet-Brenner's psychologically-tinged, French-language action thriller Les Jolies Choses (AKA Pretty Things, 2001) stars Marion Cotillard in a rare double role as identical twins Lucie and Marie. Lucie, who works as a white-hot fashion model, exhibits a dominant, often controlling, "Type A" personality, whereas Marie consistently projects a backward, reserved, laconic and unassuming attitude. When Lucie receives a covetable French recording contract, a significant problem stands in her way: the inability to sing. Marie possesses the voice of an angel, however, and quickly jets off to Paris to stand in for her sister, unannounced - little realizing the dangerous and even violent string of consequences that she is igniting. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

In this British-French comedy of manners, Parker Posey stars as Margaret, an award-winning writer of bawdy novels who's grown vaguely dissatisfied with her life in Manhattan -- and her marriage to Edward (Jeremy Northam), a junior poetry professor. Engrossed in the sexually charged 18th century French diary she's adapting for her next book, Margaret heads on a research trip to France only to discover that the chateau at which the diary was written has been turned into a nunnery full of singing sisters. Nevertheless allowing her fertile imagination to get away from her, Margaret experiences the events of the diary as a series of naughty daydreams, simultaneously becoming besotted with Martin (Patrick Bruel), the French music producer who's currently cutting an album with the nuns. When Margaret returns to New York, Martin follows, setting the stage for all sorts of romantic entanglements in Margaret's lofty social circle, which includes Till (Elizabeth McGovern), her playwright sister, and Lily, a bisexual socialite. The feature debut of documentarian Brian Skeet, Misadventures received only a belated video release in America, excised of much of its overt sexuality, including a full-frontal shot of an entire soccer team. What remained, however, was still quite sexy and grown-up. London pop combo Saint Etienne's music didn't fare as well. Although the group's 20-song soundtrack eventually came out in Japan under the title The Misadventures of Saint Etienne, only a few tracks made it into the actual film; in fact, a different subset was included in the American and continental releases. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

In this French crime film, set during the time of the Gulf War, an elderly German tourist is murdered in Paris by junk dealer Joseph Katz (Pinkas Braun), a friend of Paris detective Sam Bellamy (singer Patrick Bruel). Romantically involved with the victim's daughter Emma Guter (Isabella Ferrari), Bellamy covers up the crime he witnessed. Joseph then mysteriously vanishes, and Bellamy heads for Berlin where the victim's possessions are auctioned. After Bellamy finds the source of the well-hidden traffic in art stolen by Nazis from French Jews, he discovers a Nazi war criminal is blackmailing past associates. Incorporating background from journalist Hector Feliciano's Lost Museum, the film is adapted from Guy Konopnicki's novel, Pas de Kaddish pour Sylberstein (No Kaddish for Sylberstein). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Though French cabaret singer Patrick Bruel officially began his career decades prior, he only entered the limelight as a musical superstar in the 1990s; in the process, Bruel garnered a substantial teenage fanbase, and his fame was capped by the release of the 1995 album On s'etait dit. The home video release Patrick Bruel: On S'Etait Dit - Tour 95 serves as a companion piece to the original album, filmed during his accompanying tour; it finds the chanteur delivering a live set before an enthusiastic audience. Selections include: "Bouge," "Pour exister," "Place des grands homes" and many more. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A remake of a 1954 Billy Wilder romance, this updated version of the play Sabrina Fair was directed by Sydney Pollack. Julia Ormond stars as Sabrina Fairchild, the daughter of a kindly chauffeur (John Wood) at the Long Island estate of the upper-crust Larrabee family. Sabrina has grown up enchanted from afar with the Larrabees' sparkling world of privilege and wealth, but she's especially enamored of younger Larrabee brother David (Greg Kinnear), a charming womanizer. After the once-plain Sabrina returns from a sojourn in Paris transformed into a remarkably poised and attractive young woman, she at long last catches David's eye. In a calculated effort to manipulate David away from her and into a more financially advantageous marriage, older brother Linus (Harrison Ford) pretends to woo Sabrina himself, but finds himself unintentionally falling in love. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

In this tedious and excessively complicated thriller, a cop (Patrick Bruel) who has been sent to investigate the corruption in a small French town, encounters a mysterious rival (Jacques Dutronc), who is trying on his own to investigate the murder of his father. Michel Deville demonstrates a whole set of movie cliches -- quite surprising for a director of his level -- but the biggest surprise is the lifeless and world-weary performance from Dutronc. ~ Yuri German, Rovi

In this somewhat odd exploration of human romantic difficulties, the people in the film are all put under extra stress by the fact that on the day in question, they have lost an hour to daylight savings time. In addition, it is a full moon. Neither factor improves their response to the mild stresses they experience, which have been building up for several years. The beginning of the film shows a number of couples getting married, and follows them and a few others a few years later, on the day of the time change. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Seraphin Monge (Patrick Bruel) is a World War I veteran whose family was killed when he was an infant. At the end of the war, he returns to seek vengeance on the murderers. Monge is unable to carry out his revenge when the victims die before he can kill them. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Long ago, in what seems like another lifetime to him, Paul (Ben Gazzara) had an illegitimate son by a local North African woman. For many years now he has lived in French Algeria with his wife Betty (Julie Christie), an English-born chanteuse. Now on the eve of independence, the dangers of remaining in Algeria are growing, and the pair are preparing to leave. Before they do, Paul's illegitimate son Wanis (Patrick Bruel), by now a charming young man with a fascination for automobiles as well as women, attempts to spark a romance with Betty. One of the movie's highlights is a stock car race with the couple's vintage Buick. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi