See How They Fall

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Jun 29, 2013 Peculiar crime thriller from Jacques Audiard. Simon (Jean Yanne), a portly middle-aged travelling salesman, becomes embroiled in a murder mystery after the shooting of his police officer friend Mickey. Choosing to invigorate his tired life with direction and a sense of purpose Simon sets about looking for clues to the seemingly professional killer, leading him into the dark criminal underworld. This is told in tandem with the tale of Marx (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Frederic (Mathieu Kassovitz), an odd pair who encounter each other while hitchhiking - Marx a bitter old man, and Frederic a haplessly naive teenager who doesn't appear to have a thought in his head. As they travel the backroads and motorways fleeing from one scrape to the next Mark develops a reluctant paternal affection for Frederic. Despite a fairly conventional set-up See How They Fall is ostensibly about men recapturing their youth vicariously through young companions, complete with a strong subtext of repressed homosexuality. An interesting conceit but the film just feels far too vague, as if there isn't actually any depth there at all. The two narratives are both engaging, and their march towards conclusion never allows the pace to drop too drastically, but as a whole it isn't gripping enough to work as a thriller nor contemplative enough as a study of men. Falling somewhere between the two it delivers a subversive take on the crime genre that never wholly satisfies. The odd-couple pairing of Frederic and Marx, with its defiant unpredictability, is the stronger of the two stories. Traipsing from one den of iniquity to the next, gambling and fighting all the while, it's impossible to see where they're headed, but the chemistry between Trintignant and Kassovitz is so strong that being in the presence of the couple is reward enough. Kassovitz in particular is excellent as the puppy-dog-eyed youngster cast adrift and woefully naive in the seedy world. The performances are all strong enough to provide several impressive humane moments, but none of the characters feels particularly well-developed, preventing the film carrying the emotive weight and intrigue it promises. Ultimately See How They Fall isn't articulate or dynamic enough to achieve all its goals, but it's still an appealing, peculiar little film that hints at the greater things to come from Audiard. See more

May 23, 2013 "See How They Fall" is a 1994 french crime drama, a respectable debut by director Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bone, A Prophet). Marx (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a homeless old gambler, starts to get followed by a dumb young man, named Frederic (Mathieu Kassovitz), who's only looking for a friend. Marx starts using Frederic's loyalty to him to his advantage and they start collecting money for criminals. I was expecting a more amateur effort from Jacques Audiard, but it was pretty good. Mathieu Kassovits gives a great performance as Frederic/Johnny and the cinematography is like something you would expect from a movie directed by the Dardenne brothers or Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu. Its disguised as a crime drama, but its actually more a black comedy in my opinion. Its definitely worth a watch. I'd recommend it to people who liked either "Amores Perros", "In Bruges", or "The Guard". See more

Dec 16, 2011 du audiard noir comme j aime jean yanne impeccable See more

Aug 24, 2010 Il y a fort à hésiter entre un bon film ou quelque chose d'exceptionnel. Certains éléments, surtout pour un premier long-métrage, sont si magnifiques qu'il est impossible de ne pas tomber sous le charme, mais le film a certainement l'effet d'une bombe, peu importe sa grandeur et ne laisse aucunement indifférent, ça c'est certain. Les performances sont magnifiques en plus. See more

Feb 25, 2010 Jacques Audiard's impressive directorial debut, one of Matthieu Kassovitz' first roles and a very impressive screenplay. I find it very odd that I am the first person to rate this on flixster so far... See more

Dec 8, 2009 The ending was so unexpected. See more

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See How They Fall

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