A successful author of neo-gothic thrillers (André Dussollier) looking for a place to write meets model-turned-realtor Carole Bouquet and proposes on the spot. He confesses to his daughter (Mélanie Thierry) an inability to write when he’s in love, so the spiteful lass promptly decides to reward her old man with a guaranteed bestseller by taking a powder. André Téchiné, a writer-director known for his emotionally volatile, ever-fluctuating characters, this time delivers more canned melodrama than plausibility. The stunning Ms. Boquet — whose nose possesses the uncanny ability to bleed on cue — appears to have slept with virtually the entire cast: at one point a former lover hits her with, “You turn everybody on, but no one turns you on.” Dussollier’s son-in-law falls victim to a gay-bashing ex-con. Not only does the writer ignore the fact that his daughter’s husband is trolling the canals of Venice for male meat, he hires the young thug to tail his wife. The cast is good, but there’s not much here that elevates it above the ranks of a sexy, Euro version of Murder, She Wrote. Cowritten by the director and Mehdi Ben Attia. (2012) — Scott Marks
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