Messy film noir/psychological thriller/black comedy/romance/wtf film concerns Marc. He's a college professor who is a hit with the ladies, he has a hard time remembering anyone’s name. Living with his sister in a chalet in the mountains he teaches writing a college where the administration doesn’t much care for him. His boss keeps him around because he’s hot for Marc’s sister. Things begin to go sideways when one of his students goes missing (we later find out that this was the student he had been sleeping with at the beginning of the film.) If the missing student wasn’t bad enough, the girls bombshell mother is wandering around making eyes at him, another student wants “private lessons” and there is something about the relationship with his sister that’s not quite right.
There is much to like about Love is the Perfect Crime from the great cast who sells all their roles, to the gorgeous scenery and the wonderful sense of place, to the witty script that manages to mix uneasy humor (Marc’s blank stares at some of the women he’s bedded and whose names he can’t remember) with some genuine tension (What has Marc gotten himself into). For most of the films running time the film is a really good thriller cum (very dry)comedy of manners. It frequently cause me to crack a smile at the humor of the awkward situation as I winced as our hero gets deeper into trouble.
Unfortunately the film kind of loses its way in the final third or so as the film has to resolve everything it’s set in motion and finds it can’t do so without some twists that seem really contrived. The feeling I got was either the filmmakers painted themselves into a corner or that something was lost in the editing- like the exposition that would make things run smoothly. It’s one of those times where I get the feeling that the ending and a resolution was an afterthought.
I don’t hate the film but at the same time I wish it had a better ending.
The FIlm Plays Friday (which I think is sold out) and Monday at Lincoln Center. Details on this film and others in the series can be found here.
A quick note- We were supposed to provide coverage for around 10 of the films in this series and there was supposed to be reviews running into next week. However life, or in my case a really bad case of the flu happened and the 10 films looks to be around 4. I'm trying to scramble and get you some more coverage, but we're limited by what we can manage with the public screenings. More is coming- just please be patient.
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