Wild Grass

France's legendary director Alain Resnais has been subverting audience expectations for six decades: Wild Grass proves no exception. Flame-haired dentist Marguerite (Sabine Azéma) sets the story in motion when she buys a pair of designer heels. Moments later, a thief steals her yellow handbag. Entering a parking garage that night, Georges Palet (André Dussollier) finds Marguerite's billfold devoid of money, but her pilot's license inflames his imagination. Hesitant to contact her, Georges hands the matter over to Bernard (Mathieu Amalric), the country's most impatient cop. But when Marguerite calls to thank him, Georges complains that she isn't sufficiently grateful. Later, he apologizes, then starts calling daily and sending letters. Married to a younger woman (Anne Consigny), this chase adds excitement to Georges' life, but Marguerite asks him to stop, and when he doesn't, she contacts Bernard. And that's when Resnais turns the tables on the audience, as Marguerite takes to calling Georges and even dropping by his house with her friend, Josépha (Emmanuelle Devos). In adapting Christian Gailly's novel L'Incident, Resnais gives the romantic thriller a metaphysical twist that will please some and frustrate others. Recommended, overall. (K. Fennessy)