Counter Investigation (2007)

Beautiful, moving film.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Richard Malinowsky, a police officer, is a man that is always there for his friends. Because of being so accommodating, he has to leave his young daughter waiting as he is called by one of those people in need. The girl, Emilie, decides to go out on her bicycle. As the father returns to go out with her, he finds she has been viciously killed in an isolated part of a park.The police investigation, which Richard is part of, finds a man, Daniel Eckman, that fits the description of the killer. Although the evidence is circumstantial, the jury that tries him decides to send him to jail. Eckman, like many prisoners serving time, attract a following of admirers. Daniel begins corresponding with Christine Carlier, who will be willing to get him free.At the same time, Daniel Eckman starts writing to Malinowsky. In his letters he tries to redeem himself to the point that the detective himself, grieving for his dead daughter appears to have doubts of having sent an innocent man to pay for a crime he did not commit. When his physician's wife, Claire, discovers what Richard has been doing, behind her back, it proves too much for her to endure. She walks out on him.As a new trial is ordered based on Malinowsky's and Christine's good faith, Daniel Eckman is able to walk out of prison after only serving three years of his long sentence. What is more, he will received money for having been wrongly accused. Daniel plans to go away with Christine, but there is something when they finally meet, that makes her a bit uncomfortable. During his own private investigation, Richard Malinowsky gets some key information that will help him solve the puzzle and he is able to avenge Emilie's death.A fine film directed by Franck Mancuso who adapted a short story by Lawrence Block. The result is a credible 'policier' that never cease to get the viewer's attention. Add to that the excellent appearance by Jean Dujardin, an actor that is getting praise for his role in "The Artist", and you get a winning combination. The story moves at a good pace as Mr. Mancuso moves from one incident to the next. There are some heavy hitters in the large supporting cast. Jean-Pierre Cassel, Laurent Lucas who makes an impression with his Eckman, Aurelie Recoing, Agnes Blanchot, and Caroline Santini contribute to the enjoyment of the film.

Jean Dujardin plays "Richard Malinowski", a model cop and family man in this film loaded with famous actors like J. P. Cassel, Aurélien Recoing and J. F. Garreaud. Beautiful Caroline Santini plays the unknowing victim of a psychopath so well you can't forget her case easily. Visually beautiful, great music, a rather classic/ conventional plot in the beginning, but the movie doesn't deliver if you know how to wait.Claire M., the long-suffering wife of our main character, could've been better developed, following instead the well trodden lines of the "wife that doesn't understand the hero, leaves him at the worst moment, is cold and always complaining". I'd expect a better leading female character, at least in a film made in 2007.What I most liked is the cop culture of fellowship, even when they know what their "brothers in arms" are up to. They protect each other. For good or for bad :).Enjoy!PS: To the fellow IMDb reviewer "kosmasp": Yes, Dujardin is very well known in France, he's always at Cannes, having just won the best actor prize there with the beautiful film "L'Artiste" with Bérénice Bejo, for instance.

Having watched for years Jean Dujardin in his hilarious sitcom "Un Gars Une Fille" ,I was wondering how he would manage in a dramatic story.He is quite convincing ,as is Laurent Lucas in a shady role.The story is ,except for the debatable ending,close to the famous Boileau-Narcejac frame-ups with a dash of Patricia Highsmith thrown in for good measure ,but the characters lack in-depth psychology.The movie is too short and the part of Daniel is underwritten.The scene when Dujardin arrives on the scene of the crime shows the influence of Clint Eastwood's "Mystic river" .All in all,this is a rather good thriller,which could have been really great.The short nightmare scene ("I can't ,dad,I'm dead") is effective.

One thing you can be sure of with Frank Mancuso is authenticity. An ex-cop himself, he co-wrote 36 Quai des Orfevres with another ex-cop, Olivier Marchal (who also directed) and based it on incidents in his own time on the force. This time around he has adapted an American novel by Robert Bloch but his movie is no worse for that. It's arguably more psychological thriller than pure policier but manages to retain its grip throughout. In a nutshell a cop's young daughter is killed and a suspect arrested, tried and imprisoned and this, as they say, is where the story really starts; with the prisoner - Monty Clift lookalike Laurent Lucas - initiating a correspondence from his cell with the father of the murdered girl, a correspondence he chooses to keep secret from his wife. Justice, albeit rough justice, prevails in the end but as always in life nobody really wins. Definitely worth seeing.