Movie Type: Psychological Drama, Post-Noir (Modern Noir)
Themes: Down on Their Luck, Haunted By the Past
Main Cast: Daniel Auteuil, Stuart Townsend, Liza Walker, Noah Taylor, Francis Barber
Release Year: 1999
Country: UK/FR
Run Time: 106 minutes
Plot
Writer-director Michel Blanc, whose previous works include the acclaimed Marche a l'ombre (1984) and Dead Tired (1994), creates this gritty drama about a middle-aged impoverished French writer in London who becomes a gigolo. The film opens with Pierre (Daniel Auteuil) getting worked over by an irate pimp because he didn't pay for a hooker's drink. Rakish Irishman Tom (Stuart Townsend) offers to drive bloodied Pierre back to his seedy hotel. The following day, he stumbles upon Tom's sandwich bar and begs for a job. Though he describes himself as a dead-broke author working on a novel, Pierre is concealing secrets from his dark past. Later, during a party populated with well-turned out lesbians, Tom reveals that he moonlights as a gigolo and suggests that Pierre might try the same. Soon Pierre is making easy money at the same agency where Tom works. Things get complicated for our Gallic protagonist when he falls for a golden-hearted streetwalker with a psychotic ex-boyfriend and one of his married regulars falls for him. Told with wry wit and gritty honesty, this film explores London's dark sexual netherworld. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Claire Skinner - Patricia; Béatrice Agenin - Catherine; Keith Allen; Ben Whishaw; Barbara Flynn; Anastasia Hille; Sarah Jane Potts; Amanda Ryan; Peter Mullan
Credit
Gary Williamson - Art Director, Romain Bremond - Associate Producer, Jina Jay - Casting, Timothy Burrill - Co-producer, Ralph Holes - Costume Designer, Richard Hewitt - First Assistant Director, Michel Blanc - Director, Pierre Grunstein - Executive Producer, Annabel Karouby - Executive Producer, Barry Adamson - Composer (Music Score), Maryline Monthieux - Composer (Music Score), Barry Ackroyd - Cinematographer, Jean Goudier - Sound/Sound Designer, Bruno Charier - Sound/Sound Designer, Dominique Hennequin - Sound/Sound Designer, Joel Rangon - Sound/Sound Designer, Nick Love - Dialogue Writer, Michel Blanc - Screenwriter
