Jérôme Salle

(On Cable TV, September 2022) It took far too long for me to realize that twisted-identity French thriller Anthony Zimmer was the original inspiration for The Tourist—but by the time the mystery of whether our meek protagonist was the titular big-shot criminal Zimmer was laden on thick with additional romantic complications, well, even I could see the similarities with The Tourist’s Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and Venice. This original version doesn’t have Venice, but I prefer Sophie Marceau to Jolie, and Yvan Attal is a far better fit than Depp for the role of an “accountant” supposed to pass unnoticed anywhere he goes. In many ways, Anthony Zimmer is a big ball of nonsense—nonsense in matters of plastic surgery, of thriller elements, of romantic complications. But it’s nonsense that works relatively well once the premise is launched and the hunt is on. Writer-director Jérôme Salle keeps things at a steady simmer—no big action beats, but steady building tension. It’s not that pretentious, and works rather well as such.