La Moustache (2005/French Thriller)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: B-
How many gimmick thrillers can we see before it is
realized that creating a smart script with real suspense that stays ahead of
its audience is what works best? Emmanuel
Carrere’s La Moustache (2005) is
potentially such a thriller with the premise that Marc (Vincent Lindon) has a
happy life with his moustache, but when he shaves it off, comments about it
missing are replaced by his closest friends and family saying it was never
there.
At first, he thinks he is being joked with. However, the same three possibilities are
instead presented. Either they are lying
and up to something, he is going insane or he has fallen into a time
slip/Twilight Zone situation. We then
sit through 84 minutes trying to figure out which. The resolution is one of the three, but I
give the director and Jerome Beaujoir’s screenplay for doing it in an
intelligent enough manner. Too bad they
only had so far could go with anything here.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is on
the soft side and looks like it was shot in digital High Definition. Either way, it is nothing extraordinary, but
serviceable. The French Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo has no palpable surrounds and though is clean and clear, is nothing
special. Extras include interviews with
the writer and director, a making of featurette and the theatrical trailer.
- Nicholas
Sheffo
