FilmSnobReviews

Title: Keep an Eye Out
Rating: NR
Director: Quentin Depieux
Starring: Benoit Poelvoorde, Gregoire Ludig, Marc Fraize
Runtime: 1 hr 13 mins

What It Is: Upon a night of minor peculiarities, everyman Louis Fugain (Ludig) suffers a tedious overnight interrogation at the police station by the bumbling Commissioner Buron (Poelvoorde) after coming across a fresh dead body outside his apartment complex. As the investigation continues, strange events occur and Fugain is left scrambling to save his innocence in this French black comedy.

What We Think: This (thankfully) short flick starts off incredibly strong in tone and holds up in its simplistic and cozy style. The acting is swiftly convincing and fitting in all its quirk, though despite the solid and filling performances (and a shorter runtime, for that matter), the script still proceeds to dawdle. Many times within the first and second acts did I find myself losing interest and thinking about what I was going to wear for my next meeting or have for dinner. Scenes lose their appeal for a punchline as they sort of mosey along, giving me the impression that this was a sort of stream-of-consciousness sort of story that might have worked better with more action or cut as an actual short film. What does work in its favor are its playful moments of absurdity, some jokes managing to entertain and convince me that there was something worth enjoying in this movie? To its credit: I definitely got a good laugh or chuckle out of certain parts of it.

Our Grade: C, The silly and twisty comedy of which is successful is too sparse in an otherwise visually-pleasant but often dull 73-minute film focused on slightly odd characters seemingly making their way through tasks both menial and suspenseful. It makes for an overall tranquilizing watch with a swollen potential for so many more jokes and moments of tension.