paul2001sw-1
Cedric Kahn's movie 'Red Lights' begins as a domestic drama, and one featuring an exceptionally unattractive couple at that: she, controlling and indifferent while he is stubborn and stupid. But after the pair separate during a long drive, the film enters darker territory. The film's structure is one some ways the reverse of that of a conventional thriller, with violent climax, nightmare, and moral redemption occurring in scrambled order: the film works because the viewer can never be certain that the worst is over. Although the initial portrayals are crude (with hindsight, one can say deliberately so), the acting strengthens as the plot thickens, avoiding melodrama and conjuring a mood of increasingly real terror. The cinematography is good as well: night-time roads have not looked this scary since 'Taxi Driver'.
chandler-47
"Feux rouges" is an interesting thriller about a man searching for his wife. The plot turns when he meets a criminal and takes him up with his car on a night trip to Bordeaux. The film is thrilling until the end because you do not know what happens next. The audience is misled by some red herrings that could have been pulled out by Hitchcock. The herrings are no plot holes because the whole film is a dream. It begins with the man sitting in a bar waiting for his wife. Imagine you put this scene at the end of the movie with the man waking up out of a short sleep. It also explains the improbable happy ending and the dreamlike pictures of the night trip.Nevertheless, it could have been a better movie. Based on a story by Georges Simeon it lacks of character building. The characters are one-sided and not very likable. Underacting is sometimes part of the film noir, unfortunately it does not work here.
George Parker
"Red Lights", a subtitled French film, spends it's 1.75 hour run following Antoine (Darroussin) and his wife Hélène (Bouquet) as they leave Paris for a night drive to Bordeaux to pick up their kids. What should have been an ordinary road trip turns into an extraordinary series of events which will leave the couple forever changed. The less you know about these events prior to viewing the better as any hint of what happens could lead to a case of mistaken genre and spoilage. This film is a human drama which doesn't attempt to entertain with extremes but rather opts to engross with a slowly seductive tale of intrigues kept to realistic proportion. "Red Lights" relies heavily on the ability to identify with the adult married couple and the problems they encounter and, therefor, will play best with mature adult audiences. A nicely managed, methodical and very believable film which spends most of its time with Darroussin, "Red Lights" received good marks from critics and public alike and is well worth a look by mature viewers into French flicks. (B+)
dougsl
Just for the record there are at least as many blue lights as red lights glowing along the various roads they travel on. An interesting but strange movie, never quite got the gist of it. Good thing he found those rocks to put under the tire. Terrific main character acting in body and face language but I never felt anything for him or his wife. I like identifying with someone in the movie, lucked out on this one. And hey was there ever a more docile bad guy and whats with that hand stuck in his pant pocket, hmmm, strong head though. And as so often happens in todays movies the ending duffs instead of the marriage. Lets have some true life endings once in awhile. Oh well, I'll call it a like anyway, I did stay till the end.
AD
