A twisting crime thriller from Jacques Audiard (A Prophet), Read My Lips sees a nearly-deaf woman help a small time criminal to rob a nightclub owner.
Finding that she needs an assistant, hearing-impaired office worker Carla (Emmanuelle Devos) hires Vincent Cassel's ex-con Paul Angeli from a local employment agency. After helping him get started and finding him a place to live, Carla then asks Paul to steal some documents from a fellow colleague so that she can humiliate the colleague at the next group meeting. Soon however, Paul's debts force him to give up working at the office and take a job with small-time gangster Marchand (Olivier Gourmet) instead. But Paul's alliance with Carla continues, and using her lip-reading skills, the two of them begin plotting to rob Marchand.
Read My Lips, directed by Jacques Audiard from a screenplay by Mr. Audiard and Tonino Benacquista, is a film that works on many levels: as a black comedy, a heart-poun... more >
Read My Lips, directed by Jacques Audiard from a screenplay by Mr. Audiard and Tonino Benacquista, is a film that works on many levels: as a black comedy, a heart-pounding thriller, a psychological drama, and simply as a thoroughly engaging movie. Emmanuelle Devos (winner of last years Cesar Award for Best Actress) turns in a brilliant performance as Carla, a hearing impaired, emotionally reserved office assistant for a property development company.
Feeling unappreciated by her overbearing male colleagues, Carla hires Paul as her assistant, although she knows or suspects that he is unqualified for the job. Paul soon learns that he owes a debt to a violent nightclub owner, Marchand (Olivier Gourmet) and makes a deal with him where, in lieu of payment, he will work behind the bar in his sleazy nightclub. Both "outsiders" in society, Carla and Paul slowly develop a bond and a barely understood dependency on each other and become a very efficient team in dealing with dangerous opponents. The results are both startling and unpredictable.
Read My Lips is a "noir-ish" high-stakes thriller with plots and sub-plots, passion and double-cross, and multiple twists and turns that leave the viewer breathless. There are no caricatures at play here. The strength of the film lies in the beautifully drawn characters whose lives become more deeply interwoven with every challenge. Read My Lips can be a wild ride but I think you'll very much like where it takes you.
