Every element of this film is so finely tuned that it's hard to criticise. Leconte opens the film like a Western with the stranger arriving in an empty town that seems to be rolling itself up to get away from him. Then we enter Manesquier's fading and overcrowded little world, contrasted against the set-up for the robbery ... and other things that add to Leconte's mysterious tapestry. Hallyday and Rochefort simply inhabit their characters--we never doubt them for a second, miles apart in every way and yet discovering a surprising point where their hearts and minds intersect. Meanwhile, Leconte directs with style and colour, drawing us in with humour and a spark of suspense because we haven't a clue where the story might be going, but we know full well that it's going somewhere intriguing. There are life-changing decisions everywhere, regrets to rectify, futures to plan--all due to a random encounter. In the end it's a bit surreal and light (yes, at the same time), but it's so delightfully done that we don't mind at all.