Fred Cavayé directs Vincent Lindon, Diane Kruger and Lancelot Roch in this French thriller where a mild mannered school teacher must break his wife out of prison when she is sentenced for a murder she did not commit.

Straight faced and with an unfashionable emphasis on suspense, Pour Elle plays out just as well on a second watch as it did when it was released. There are two aces in the hole here. 1) Diane Kruger is so uncommonly beautiful that all of Lindon’s brinkmanship and self destruction to spring her makes sense. 2) The abrupt start of the nightmare over a seemingly everyday breakfast plays out particularly strongly. The Hollywood remake with Russell Crowe is equally as watchable and that hook presents a hell of a “what if” for married date nights. ‘Even if she were guilty’ would be my answer. This is white knight fantasy for husbands and wives to play out together, and even if the narrow escapes and the unsuccessful gambles do stretch credulity, Lindon’s everyman remains totally convincing throughout.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Tell No One (2006)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/