‘The Innocent’ Review: Louis Garrel’s Crime, Comedy, Romance Caper Is Breezy, Elegant Fun [Cannes]

Directed by Louis Garrel, son of revered arthouse director Philippe, “The Innocent” is a quintessentially French comedy whose principle aim is to be a fun time. Though this may seem a relatively modest ambition, we all know it isn’t easy to do well, and Garrel certainly does not make things any simpler for himself as the film repeatedly leaves the realm of the bon mot to veer on the farcical.

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“The Innocent” immediately captures the attention with a surprising, alarming tonal shift as a tense dialogue scene between two men turns out to be a rehearsal in an acting class — though an acting class within a prison, with inmates playing the parts. The difference (or lack thereof) between playing the criminal and being a criminal is what powers up the film throughout, as characters continually resist or embrace role-playing.

The actor/prisoner is Michel (Roschdy Zem) who, it turns out, is in a relationship with his acting teacher, Sylvie (Anouk Grinberg). “It’s not a prison, it’s a dating club” reacts her son Abel (Garrel), who is used to his mother getting involved with men behind bars, and typically greets them with suspicion. At the prison-set wedding, awkward to everyone present except for the very happy couple, Abel is cold and standoffish towards his new stepfather, and as soon as the latter is released, Abel begins tailing him.

Although Michel’s ability to open a flower shop right in the middle of the city despite having little money is somewhat suspicious, the man is also extremely nice, attentive, easy-going and in no way a sinister person. Garrel, on the other hand, plays his character as a serious, concerned, straight-faced, and impatient man, surrounded by much more cheerful and impulsive people who drive him crazy but in fact seem much more reasonable than him. The intense, sometimes over-the-top acting style of Noémie Merlant is perfectly suited to the role of Clémence, best friend to Abel and to his wife, who passed away several years ago. Impetuous and always game for anything, she is in some ways the exact opposite of the cautious and somber Abel, and it soon becomes clear that both are simply dealing with their grief in different ways. She happily helps him in his investigation, her giddy participation making his amateurish sleuthing seem all the more ridiculous and counterproductive, as Michel immediately spots them.

Tension, farcical comedy, and stakes all go up a notch when it turns out that Michel really is cooking up plans for a burglary with some of his more aggressive-seeming friends, and Abel is genuinely terrified. Michel, however, is a very good actor and a charmer, and easily convinces his new step-son to help him carry out this mission, whose ultimate goal is to save the flower shop and Sylvie’s happiness. Garrel here walks a difficult tightrope, the film threatening to fall into something too ludicrous to keep us caring. But he succeeds with an impressive combination of humor, suspense, and touching sincerity. The film peaks with the beautifully made scene of the burglary, Abel, and Clémence charged with distracting a truck driver long enough for Michel and his accomplice to steal the expensive Iranian caviar he is transporting. As the duo acts out a scenario of romantic strife, Clémence proves to be an incredibly convincing actress, but Abel’s hilariously terrible performance threatens to ruin the entire plan and they are forced to improvise. What comes next isn’t exactly surprising: of course, fiction turns into reality, the fake fight into an actual love confession, but Garrel thankfully does not overdo the romanticism or abandon the almost slapstick dimension of the film’s comedy.

Unlike some more sedate French comedies of manners that can seem almost impenetrable with their bourgeois worlds and bourgeois jokes, and are simply not all that funny, Garrel here delivers a witty and elegantly constructed film that joyfully draws parallels between acting and lying, being and pretending, while remaining breezy, fun, eminently accessible and even welcoming. [B]

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