Roman De Gare is veteran French director Claude Lelouch's forty-ninth movie; fittingly, this film is a masterfully constructed feast for the eyes and, for the most part, an intricate, engaging story. The plot is intended to weave together the accounts of three very unique souls: ultra powerful novelist, Judith Ralitzer (Fanny Ardant), who lives as royalty without ever having to write a word; the man who might be her ghost writer, could likely be a murderer, or might simply be a lost soul; and the beautiful woman he discovers dumped at a gas station and desperately looking for love.

The film’s title might best be translated as “airport novel”; indeed the script has all the elements of a classic travel tale: an escaped rapist/murderer, a lost and gullible young damsel in distress, and an iconic cultural hero who turns out to be nothing but a big fraud. Though all the set-up seems in tact, I think that if I were to read this movie as a novel on my next flight, the story might have me asleep well before my plane touched ground. Roman De Gare starts out as a rather fascinating and suspenseful character study but peters out with a poorly contrived, anticlimactic ending.

I loved the first half of this film; the suspense generated around the identity of Pierre Laclos (Dominique Pinon) is very well executed and had me on the edge of my seat. I was especially excited when he, a possible predator, was quite accidentally swept up in a plot pulled together by his potential prey, the young ‘hooker hairdresser’, Huguette (Audrey Dana.) The family drama that play’s out at Huguette’s home in the French country side is delightfully humorous and packed with poignant expression. Because parts of this movie were so sit-com funny, I almost wish that Roman De Gare would have let itself shine as an interesting, quirky story instead of stretching for the Hitchcock-like thriller status it never really achieved anyway.

Here’s the bottom line: I really like the core concept of this film – the sort of wicked, enterprising, zero-talent big name ‘novelist’ who is ‘haunted’ by her hard working, unacknowledged, yet gifted ghostwriter. Even though the word play on the writing ghost got a little old, the whole notion is an interesting thought for viewers to sleep on (if not before they watch their next movies) before they buy their next books. Go see this film; even if you (like me) only enjoy the first half while scoring an interesting topic of conversation, it should still be worth your while.

Liz Licorish
LizFlix@ElitesTV.com