A thriller centered on a con artist, his wife, and a stranger who try to flee a foreign country after one of them is caught up in the murder of a police officer.
A superior directorial debut for a smart, literate screenwriter delivers both first-class character drama and edge-of-your-seat suspense.
Intelligent, stylish adaptation of a Highsmith thriller with a crack cast and superbly photographed period locations. But it misses the essential element of tension.
While a competently watchable affair, there’s some flimsy characterisation that these fine actors can’t quite embellish.
Amini directs with elegance and subtlety.
A sophisticated, old-school thriller.
Alas, Amini’s style, which is perfunctory bordering on pastiche, succeeds only in draining the plot and the characters of any dramatic urgency.
Amini manages the unlikely feat of making us care about these three Americans who are ready to fast-talk, trick and, as a last resort, murder their way toward a better life.
It all makes for a thriller that balances urgent storytelling with ethical dilemmas.
Classy company – mature middle-classy, to be specific – though there's the feeling this would crackle that bit more if it had taken some risks of its own.
Verdict: Excellent period thriller.
Lesser Highsmith, but Mortensen, Isaac and Dunst are a joy to watch.
This directorial debut from writer Hossein Amini is a handsomely mounted if somewhat slight affair, beautifully photographed by Marcel Zyskind, gorgeously dressed by Steven Noble, and well played by the central trio, whose shifting motivations and increasingly paranoid allegiances remain a matter of intrigue.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Friday June 13, 2014, until Wednesday June 18, 2014. More info: www.filmhousecinema.com
Cameo, Edinburgh from Friday June 27, 2014, until Thursday July 3, 2014. More info: http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/
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