Anything for Her (2008)

Truly Dreadful Film

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

So, what would YOU do if your spouse is convicted on a murder charge and sentenced to 20 years in jail? The film explores to what lengths someone might go, and it takes the viewer on a journey that is anything but expected. And it does it in convincing style and fashion and has you glued to your seat from beginning to end.OK, Julien enters a world that makes him do things that we should by rights not find acceptable. And yet, one can do nothing but root for him to succeed, regardless of his methods.I absolutely loved the power and speed of this film. It's action-packed, but also has a lot of depth.A superb thriller throughout!

What do you expect out of an escape plot? That it should be convincing. This is not achieved by getting a guy to say that no system is full-proof. Contrast this film with something like 'The shawshank redemption'. With minimal physical action, the latter convinces us that it is actually possible to escape from shawshank. Nowhere in the film I felt like the hero has really outperformed the authority.The plot seemed to be confused at best. This is an escape plot shot like a rescue film. It wastes too much time trying to answer "why" and in the end fails there too. The narrative pace never fully takes off and just when I thought its pacing up, the film ended abruptly. What I want to see in a rescue film is "how", where the film falls flat on its face.Very little effort has been made to explain why would the guy want to break her out of prison, what convinces him that she is innocent? I know that she's his wife, but she's not our wife - and in the end what matters is why WE want to see her out of prison. Do we sympathize with the victim? I couldn't. She is probably going nuts in her cell, but we never get to see what she is actually going through inside the prison. Being gorgeous is not enough to relate with the audience.I gave it four points for the craftsmanship behind the film - good cinematography and great editing. I hear Hollywood is getting it's own version of the film. I believe that film will benefit from cranking up the action slightly and tension a lot.

A very good French thriller - pacy, believable, you care for the main characters, and the ultimate element in a good thriller 'They can't possibly pull it off - can they?' The story is of a wife wrongly imprisoned for murder, who can't hack prison, so that her ordinary husband has to devise a way of freeing her and getting away with it! At 96 minutes it works, except for a bit of slackness in the middle, with excellent acting, good cutting, some controlled violence,and sex that is integral to the plot and motivation. Simple driving theme with a powerful elliptical turn of good and bad, when you expect a doleful French cinematic ending or a hail of bullets at any moment in the conclusion gives some very good entertainment - something Hollywood seems to have lost amidst CGI-fests. One word of caution to Paul Haggis, who is slated to direct a US version, no star face in the lead male role or the whole delicate structure will be fatally undermined.

This is a terrific film ,and does exactly what cinema should do - it makes you think, and is very entertaining. You can't just slump in front of a film like this, shovelling popcorn down your front. You have to join in. What would YOU do if someone you loved so passionately was wronged by the law? This takes it to the full extent; taking the law into your own hands - its spaghetti era Eastwood - type storytelling, told with passion, humour and guile. Cinematically, its great - how come the French so seldom make bad looking films? The acting is fantastic, with both leads acquitting themselves with great style. Like most good thriller films, it goes close to stretching credibility at times, but never veers into the ridiculous or implausible. Also weaved into the film is a vein of good fortune which drives the story along and seems in the end to be their just dessert. One small criticism; it seemed set up for a sequel - surely film makers of such taste would not lead down that road? No sequel thanks -it stands as a great piece of work as it is.Leave well alone.