Love Crime

Love Crime is the last film Alain Corneau made before his death, and it initially looks like it might act as a fitting swansong. Kristin Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier are ideally cast as the ruthless business executive and her young, ambitious assistant, and it's fun to watch their mutual manipulations and backstabbing for a while. Unfortunately, the whole narrative hinges on a mid-film twist and that's where Love Crime promptly collapses.

The second half of the picture, with its dull procedural scenes (led by a seemingly incompetent police force) and preposterous plot revelations, grows increasingly risible and completely fails to build on the sly intrigues of the opening half. Love Crime seems to have no understanding of the corporate world its story is set in, and its story unfolds without any recourse to emotional or psychological logic. We can only hope that Brian De Palma's forthcoming remake, Passion, is a lot more satisfying. [Philip Concannon]