Review of Read My Lips (2001) by James H — 15 Apr 2008

Good French films in the last ten years usually involve Vincent Cassell one way or another. The man is very talented; he can play the clown or the psycho and swap them over in one look or short sentence. That is a rare talent to have, as it keeps you on your toes of what he is going to do next, not just in reflection of his various films but actually deep within each film itself.

Read my Lips (or Sur mes levres if you're French) is a film that bubbles with tension, the very beautiful Emmanuelle Devos is on fine form playing the lead role of Carla. The chemistry between her and Cassell's Paul is electric and really makes the film succeed in what it is trying to achieve.

The story overlaps two lives. Carla is a deaf woman that can only hear with a hearing aid on and she is struggling in an office of heavily sexist sales executives. She is trying to take on more responsibility and show her boss that she is worthy of being in control of various projects rather than just being his secretary.

The boss suggests drafting in an assistant temp to help with the workload. That person is Paul who has just been released from jail on parole and owes F70, 000 to a seedy underworld boss.

For a short period Paul works hard and Carla sets him up with a flat but Paul quickly finds out that he has to pay back the F70, 000 and so has to work for the club owned by the underworld boss.

The story really does progress and never decreases as a result of the strength of the performance of the whole cast.

The manipulation of the plot and the sexual tension makes you watch this with excitement and that in itself makes a wonderful film that only the French could pull off.

Rating: ****.