Un homme idéal (2015)
Directed by Yann Gozlan

Film Review

After his promising debut feature Captifs (2010), a gruesome but compelling entry in the survival thriller line, Yann Gozlan tackles a more quintessentially French kind of thriller, one that is so close to René Clément's Plein soleil (1960) that it almost qualifies as a remake.  Gozlan admits that the main inspiration for Un homme idéal was the Patricia Highsmith novel The Talented Mr Ripley on which Clément's classic thriller is based.  Other influences include the films of Claude Chabrol (notably Le Boucher) and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as Jacques Deray's sumptuous La Piscine (1969), which is shamelessly referenced in the second half of Golan's film with its sunny Riviera setting.

Given that its plot revolves around literary theft, it is perhaps fitting that Gozlan's film should be jam-packed with so many readily identifiable cinematic allusions - after all, one's man outright plagiarism is another man's affectionate homage.  It is however curious that the story should be so similar to that of Brian Klugman's American film Words (2012), which was itself accused of ripping off Swiss author Martin Suter's romantic novel of 2004, Lila, Lila, adapted into a film of the same title in 2009.  There's nothing new under the sun.

Un homme idéal may not be exactly brimming with originality but it makes an effective little thriller, stylishly shot and meticulously designed and edited to extract as much tension as possible from its somewhat mechanically constructed plot.  In contrast to the cool, amoral hero of Highsmith's famous Ripley novels, the protagonist in Gozlan's film is a panicky loser who falls apart in his attempts to follow Ripley's example, namely resorting to ever drastic measures to conceal a comparatively minor crime, the usurpation of someone else's identity (by stealing his work).  It's a gift of a part for Pierre Niney, who last year shot to stardom with his lead performance in Jalil Lespert's Yves Saint Laurent (2014), for which he won the Best Actor César in 2015.

The talented Mr Niney shows us what Tom Ripley might have been if he had a conscience and had been less well fated by the gods - a weak con artist totally ill-equipped to deal with the nightmare he creates for himself.  It all starts out so easily for success-hungry Mathieu, but as he soon discovers the hard part about fame is not finding it, but holding on to it.  As his life spirals out of control, Mathieu morphs from a likeable but complacent innocent into a desperate, sweaty neurotic, and it's a credit to Niney that, no matter how far-fetched the plot becomes, his tragic character remains convincing and sympathetic throughout.  Un homme idéal ultimately collapses under the weight of its badly fielded contrivances but its slick presentation and a strong central performance make up for this, even if it does end up looking like a pale imitation of the other films it references so glibly.

Film Synopsis

Mathieu, a man in his mid-twenties, dreams of making his name as an author.  He has written a book, but despite his best efforts he cannot find a publisher and he refuses to accept the truth - that he has no talent as a writer.  Whilst waiting for success to come his way, he earns a living working for his uncle's removals company.  This is how he happens to come across the forgotten manuscript of an old man who has recently died.  After some soul searching, Mathieu decides to write up the manuscript, a spectacularly well-written firsthand account of the Algerian War, and submit it to a publisher under his own name.  The book proves to be a huge success and Mathieu finds himself catapulted into the glamorous world of the rich and famous.  Once the euphoria of being a published author has passed, Mathieu finds himself up against the insurmountable obstacle of the second novel.  Hounded by his publisher and his creditors, knowing that his comfortable new life is about to slip from his grasp, he suffers a creative block.  To add to his woes, he is then contacted by a stranger who seems to know his dark secret...