Written by Sarah Boslaugh Wednesday, 02 October 2013 19:00
It’s good but undemanding adult fun, if wacky gangsters are your thing.
If style were enough to carry a film, Kris McManus’ Dead in France would be a clear winner. As it is, it’s an enjoyable if derivative flick that will provide a pleasant home viewing if you like tongue-in-cheek but rather violent and explicitly sexual gangster films.
The setup is that British contract killer Charles (Brian Levine, who also co-wrote the script) wants to settle down in Cannes and enjoy the good life. He’s got plenty of cash, thanks to his profession but lacks social skills thanks in part to a germ phobia that requires him to keep everyone he isn’t engaged in killing at arm’s length. Charles hires a housekeeper (Celia Mur) who immediately has wild sex all around the house with her boyfriend Denny (Darren Bransford) and later conspires to steal Charles’ savings. In addition, a rival hit-woman (Kate Lousteau) decides that now is the time to bump Charles off. Gore, mayhem and wackiness ensue.
Dead in France has a calculatedly retro feel, beginning with the black and white cinematography, frequent title cards, and 70’s-style soundtrack (lots of accordion, because what says “South of France” like an accordion?). In fact, the most successful sequences are those without dialogue; when the largely-unknown crew of actors starts talking, the archness of the script and their lack of skill can be an impediment to rather than a vehicle for enjoyment. Still, it’s good but undemanding adult fun, if wacky gangsters are your thing.
Christian Filipella’s Silver Case wears its Tarantino influence even more heavily, and, as with Dead in France, its greatest asset is its visual style, including some very nice location shooting. Also like Dead in France, Silver Case is enjoyable enough to watch, if not an absolute cinematic classic. In fact, the two films would make a nice evening of home video, particularly in the company of like-minded friends.
Eric Roberts, playing a Hollywood producer known as “The Senator,” is doing battle with a rival known as “the Master” (Brad Light). A mysterious silver briefcase plays a key role in this undertaking; not surprisingly, said briefcase is quickly knocked off its intended course, and mayhem ensues. While many of the individual scenes work well, the film as a whole is pretty meandering, due in part to a large cast of characters including a luckless courier (Alejandro Cardenas), two bumbling crooks (Chris Facey and Brian Keith Gamble), a whole gang of even lower-on-the-food-chain crooks, an antiques dealer (Seymour Cassel), and a for-hire seductress (Claire Falconer).
Extras on the Dean in France DVD include three deleted scenes, a gag reel, photo gallery, and two trailers. Dead in France in unrated in the U.S., but has an 18 certificate in the U.K., meaning the British Board of Film Classification considers it suitable for adults only, due to its explicit portrayal of sex, violence, and drug use. Extras on the Silver Case DVD include two behind-the-scenes features (including a tour of Paris Hilton’s estate, which was used in shooting), a photo gallery, and two trailers. | Sarah Boslaugh