Very disappointing...

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Found this one under the section 'mind games' and yep, that is what happens to this lady. First, let me warn you, it's French, so if you don't read good... or speak French... It tells the tale of gorgeous redhead secretary Dany, who's tasked with finishing up some work for her boss, and then roped into staying with him in and his wife, to drive their car back home for them, lucky her!! Well, she drops them off and now behind the wheels of an old sports car, she throws caution to the wind and decides to take the car for a joyride to the sea, because she's never seen the sea. As she's driving through a small town, she decides to have a little fun, as she tells the locals, shes a corporate exec in advertising, and thats all cool until she's attacked in the restroom, and after that, reality gets a little weird, well, those same locals start talking to her about the stuff that she went through the previous night, with her car's break lights out, and hurting her wrist... whoa, she wasn't in this town last night, and she just now hurt her wrist in the attack. And as she just tries to get back home, she also engages in some naughtiness with a dude, that just seems to be waiting for her, and her alter ego, kinda just goes with it, and well gets screwed in a few different ways by this dude, but finding out the truth is more screwed up than anything that's happened. Good movie, thriller, with a touch of artsy fartsy thrown in. Filmbufftim on FB.

This is already the second bad screen adaptation of a magnificent book. Well, to enjoy even the original story, you must either remember or imagine the times without cell phones and developed forensics investigation -- this seems to be a problem for some reviewers here. If you can, the book has everything lacking in the movie: a beautifully crafted chain of events with the murderer's accomplice constantly modifying his plains to frame and kill Danny and the seemingly unlikely chances that let her escape the net again and again. But these "random" events are deeply connected with her character that in the book undergoes an exemplary character development, first drifting with the events, then the self-doubt, and in the end taking the things in her own hand before reaching Marseille. ("The phoenix being born again" -- this is really dismal that this memorable point of the book is not shown in the movie at all, it's not even attempted.) Her inner strength is nowhere to be seen in the movie, although they succeeded in showing her meekness as well as her longing for freedom and luxury.The actors seem to have done everything they could within the limits of the script, but Benjamin Biolay is miscast as Monsieur Caravaille: he should be a heavily built strong man, menacing already in his appearance, but energetic and silken at the beginning, not annoyed and lethargic all the time. Freya Mavor is rather good but her skin is not tanned, which is very important in the book -- this is why everybody she encounters on the road instantly believes she is from the upper class. With this very bold freckled and pale appearance she could never be mistaken for another woman. And the role of "Georges" is kind of quickly thrown together here, while vivid and remarkable in the book, so Elio Germano did not have a real chance either -- but succeeds to show at least a little from both his easy-going and menacing sides.The air of the sixties is well represented sometimes, in the indoor settings, her clothing and certainly in the mighty Thunderbird itself -- but come on, all the roads are empty and besides the actors there is not a living person in sight at Paris-Orly. Some contemporary footages could have helped here!

"La dame dans l'auto avec des lunettes et un fusil" ("The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun") is a remake of a 1970 film of the same title starring Samantha Eggar and Oliver Reed, based on a novel by Sébastien Japrisot, who also wrote the earlier screenplay. Screen writing and producer credit for the remake go to Patrick Godeau, who has numerous credits as a producer but no prior writing credits. One would think that in doing a remake, one would learn from the prior version, build on its strengths, improve its weaknesses and rework its flaws. However, this production displays the same faults criticized in reviews of the original. One minor change with significant implications is that in the 1970 film, Dany loses her way and by the time she realizes her mistake, continuing her journey doesn't seem like such a poor or drastic choice. In the remake, she makes a deliberate (if impetuous) decision, which puts her in a much less sympathetic light. We aren't given much of an opportunity to know Dany before she embarks on her adventure. A few quick scenes portray her as socially awkward, submissive and a bit milquetoast. She is much more inclined to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune than to take arms against a sea of troubles, which makes the plot more plausible but doesn't make Dany a particularly sympathetic or interesting character. Like the earlier film, the movie is set in 1970 or thereabout, when people used electric typewriters and carbon paper and revisions meant retyping the entire document from scratch. Nobody had cell phones, but CB radios were all the rage. The only rationale for this time setting is to make the plot slightly more plausible. The story relies on a series of coincidences. As each coincidence occurs as part of a road trip, they seem highly improbable. If the character had instead checked into an isolated inn with a small staff, few guests and only one dining area, coincidental encounters and such might have seemed less unlikely. Dany meets an egocentric self-serving rogue who is pretty much her opposite number in terms of personality, values and approaches to life. The movie's best scenes involve their interactions. This character could be a change agent who gives Dany the skills and outlook she needs to escape her predicament. After they part company, she does show some initiative in one reasonably clever scene, but quickly reverts to her passive role. Eventually, Dany becomes caught up in the machinations of another character. This character's grand scheme dramatically impacts Dany's situation. It's never clearly explained, but its chances of success seem highly remote. The character tries to explain away some of the coincidences as some sort of preternatural force guiding Dany's choices. The premise has considerably more potential than realized on screen. Dany's early choices could have complicated the other character's grand scheme, forcing that character into various spur-of-the-moment changes. (There is a bit of that in an encounter at a service station; however, how the other character came to be there in possession of a certain large object and managed to do things and leave unobserved by Dany or other witnesses seems implausible.) If Dany were to form an uneasy alliance with the rogue and develop new skills that allowed her to overcome increasingly difficult challenges presented by the other character's frantic efforts to adjust the grand scheme, it could have been a much better film. Films like "The Game" and "U-Turn" presented unsympathetic characters attempting to overcome challenges that intensified despite their best efforts. Dany spends much of the film doubting herself and doubting her sanity. She never unravels the mystery surrounding her. Instead another character explains everything to her. At the end of the film, it's not clear if she has grown as a character and become better able to contend life's challenges. The film leaves many questions unanswered. It doesn't have a strong moral or theme. It's nicely photographed, but the style of cinematography seems outdated, like something from the 1970s. The film stars Freya Mavor, which is about the best thing one can say about it. She is gorgeous. If she did nothing but stand there before the camera and smile, people would buy the DVD for the outtakes. Unfortunately, the script doesn't give her many opportunities to do much besides looking confused, but she looks great not doing much. Elio Germano does a credible job channeling Jean-Paul Belmondo as the rogue.

Great aesthetics throughout, beautifully shot, amusingly playful dialogues -sometimes unreal, sometimes carrying shifting meanings or seemingly no meaning at all- this film is a dreamy, sensual ride with a gorgeous actress (and character) on which the camera often lingers... The male counterpart can also be evocative though, but I like how the film just celebrates this beautiful woman, and with great music makes her attitude even more catchy. Meanwhile, the character is ambiguous, sometimes naive, other times vindicative and strong, sometimes simply weak. I struggle to find the underlying meaning of the film and though I have theories I am more than satisfied to let my appreciation of the movie be on a purely aesthetic level.