Roman de Gare

Starring Dominique Pinon, Fanny Ardant, and Audrey Dana
Directed by Claude Lelouch
Rated R

A lot of "Hitchcockian" efforts are essentially rip-offs. The Harrison Ford-Michelle Pfeiffer nightmare What Lies Beneath steals from at least three Hitchcock movies. Others, like the recent Woody Allen films Match Point and Cassandra's Dream, operate under the same kinds of rules that a Hitchcock thriller might if he were making films today while not fitting the mold aesthetically. Mostly, though, "Hitchcockian" denotes an expectation that the film you're seeing unfold may not actually be the one you're watching.

In the case of Roman de Gare, a puzzling and terrific new French mystery, we're introduced to three characters who could in reality be any number of people. There's a wealthy novelist (Fanny Ardant) who might not have the world by as long a string as she contends. There's a young woman kicked out of the car at a gas station by her fiancé (Audrey Dana), who almost too nonchalantly accepts a ride into Paris from a stranger (Dominique Pinon).

The stranger, as you might expect, drives the action. At various times, we believe he's a ghostwriter for the wealthy and famous novelist, a simple man escaping his simple life, or a serial killer known as The Magician, who lures his victims in with sleight of hand.

Roman de Gare is, as people who fail to make a point like to say, what it is. This is an exercise in mistaken identity. But it doesn't travel in the same circles as silly movies where people rip off a mask of someone else's face to reveal their true identity.

This is mistaken identity built on mistrust and misinformation. You think one thing knowing all along something else may be the truth. When that other thing reveals itself, you begin to question whether that's true or just another part of the charade. And in the hands of Claude Lelouch, a director whose very presence is reason enough to watch (and watch closely), the mistaken identity angle becomes all the more obtuse.

Dominique Pinon is best known to American audiences for his role in Amelie several years ago; he was the jilted ex-boyfriend who would arrive at the restaurant to keep tabs on his former lover, recording her conversations and keeping notes until finally falling for yet another waitress. His performance in Roman de Gare is breathtakingly easy. The film would fall apart if he clued you in too much or withdrew so completely that it wasn't fun to guess. But with a tremendous amount of subtlety, he's the chunk of cheese on the mousetrap, luring you closer in spite of yourself.

At a certain point, all Hitchcockian movies must reveal their motives and their intentions. Roman de Gare is predictably not its best when it turns its cards over. But this is one of those films where the journey is so much more important than the destination.