Review of The Imposter (2012) by Tibor B — 22 Sep 2012
A very cleverly crafted documentary, with a very bizarre and intriguing story to tell. 23 year old Frenchman Bourdin pretends to be a 16 year old missing Texan boy, and is amazed to find the family accept him with seemingly open arms, despite bearing no physical resemblance and having a strong French accent.
The film is given a lot of credibility by having all the real characters involved, indeed the compulsive conman Frederic Bourdin is one of the main talking heads, a very clever move as his charm works on the audience just as much as on people in the story adding an extra layer of complexity to the narrative.
Bart layton and his team wring a lot of suspense from the tale, and a mid-act revelation suggesting a very dark twist to the tale is jaw-dropping. A few of the scenes seem staged and cheesy, especially when the rumpled PI takes up a shovel and a few moments of post-production are a bit overdone, as if Layton mistakenly didn't quite trust the strength of his material enough.
It's certainly far stranger than fiction, and like the best mysteries, leaves some frustrating unanswered questions.
This review of The Imposter (2012) was written by Tibor B on 22 Sep 2012.
The Imposter has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
