Writer-director Le Guay keeps us guessing as we watch these two men--and their colleagues--circle around each other. It's a fascinating blending of machismo and emasculation, filmed in a gritty style using real locations and natural lighting. Performances are natural as well; Laroche makes sure we know Pierre isn't used to being pushed around, so his disorientation is palpable. Meanwhile, Barbe's Fred is a mercurial charmer--likeable, monstrous, helpless, seething. As the tension builds the whole thing becomes so uncomfortable that we want to look away ... yet we stay glued to the screen to see how these grown men sort out their juvenile problems. In the end it's all a bit small and intricate for the big screen, but it's a nice alternative to the usual overblown Hollywood stuff out there. And a clever contrast to the more overt suspense of a vaguely similar French thriller, Harry He's Here to Help.

adult themes, language, violence

28.Jan.02