Filmul nu are subtitrare in limba romana. / This movie does not have Romanian subtitles.
Time Out, which won the Lion of the Year at Venice in 2000, is a midlife crisis film with a difference. Vincent is an out-of-work consultant who fabricates an increasingly complex and unsustainable business life to give his wife and children a secure existence. In the process, old friends are caught up in shady investments and Geneva becomes the focal point of his fugitive career. Then, as the net closes, the eternally routine nature of Vincent's professional life returns to haunt him anew.
Aurélien Récoing is persuasively understated in the lead role, conveying a myriad of emotions with his subtle facial gestures. Karin Viard is sympathetic as the trusting Muriel, ready to offer support even when the web of lies has all but unravelled, and there's an engaging contribution from Serge Livrozet--the adept black marketeer sincere in his willingness to help.
Laurent Cantet's direction is a fine example of less is more, sustaining the film with relative ease over 129 minutes. Pierre Milon's camerawork makes the most of some stunning scenery on the Franco-Swiss border and Jocelyn Pook's spare but brooding score is a discreetly effective enhancement. As the closing scene ties up loose ends with a neatly barbed irony, you're left in little doubt that Vincent's problems are about to start again. --Richard Whitehouse