A Few Days in September (Quelques jours en septembre) (2006)

47% of critics liked it
(17 reviews)
38% of users liked it
(1,159 ratings)

A spy discovers doing a favor for a friend leads her into unexpectedly dangerous circumstances in this dark comedy. It's been close a decade since French intelligence agent Irene (Juliette Binoche) has heard from her friend Elliot (Nick Nolte), an American CIA operative who left Europe and took up a… More A spy discovers doing a favor for a friend leads her into unexpectedly dangerous circumstances in this dark comedy. It's been close a decade since French intelligence agent Irene (Juliette Binoche) has heard from her friend Elliot (Nick Nolte), an American CIA operative who left Europe and took up a new identity under mysterious circumstances. But one day out of the blue Irene gets a call from Elliot as he asks her to track down his daughter Orlando (Sara Forestier), currently living in the French countryside, and bring her to Paris so they can re-connect. Irene agrees, but she soon discovers Orlando has nothing good to say about her missing dad and only grudgingly agrees to pay him a visit. When they arrive in Paris, Irene and Orlando find the family reunion is bigger than they thought -- David (Tom Riley), Elliot's stepson, is also on hand, though David and Orlando mix like oil and water. As Elliot tries to juggle meetings with his two children and Irene tries to help by playing interference, Elliot is also visited by a deranged American intelligence representative, William Pound (John Turturro), who along with Elliot knows something about a possible attack on the United States, as well as a pair of shadowy moneymen (Mathieu Demy and Said Amadis) who want to know more about the plot and are willing to pay for the privilege. Quelques Jours En Septembre (aka A Few Days In September) was the first directorial credit for veteran screenwriter Santiago Amigorena. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 55 min.
Directed By: Santiago Amigorena
Written By: Santiago Amigorena
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Sep 11, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Sep 11, 2007
Studio: Koch Lorber Films

Critic Reviews

Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter
Savvy thriller for conspiracy buffs with star performances by Binoche and Turturro.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
A spy thriller with a difference or two
Derek Malcolm, This is London
Slick, fitfully effervescent, pre-9/11 thriller aims to inject some cross-cultural poetry into the world of political espionage.
David Gritten, Daily Telegraph
No film starring Juliette Binoche can be totally negligible, but this comes close.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
Here is a film as rum and tangential as the theories themselves, a pleasingly off-kilter noir that casts Juliette Binoche as a cigarillo-smoking spymistress who lights out for Venice in the first days of September 2001.
, Daily Mirror [UK]
Feeling more like a few months in the cinema, this ploddy, pretentious Euro-pudding is made just about bearable thanks to its cast.
Billy Mowbray, Film4
Sacrificing entertainment at the altar of arty lyricism, Amigorena's snail-paced drama is dull, misjudged and a criminal waste of a cracking premise.
David Jenkins, Total Film
Buckling under the weight of its own hubris, the potentially scandalous premise ends up feeling like a Dan Brown knock-off.
David Mattin, BBC
A Few Days in September is that rarest and most peculiar of creatures: a French arthouse action thriller.
David Jenkins, Little White Lies
Duff addition to the ever-expanding canon of 9/11 movies.
David Jenkins, Time Out
An intriguing set-up spoiled by a clever-clever script, Christophe Beaucarne's migraine-inducing cinematography and performances which are decent, but never gel.
Rob Daniel, Sky Movies
Amigorena has an eye for off-kilter camerawork and attractively shoots Paris and Venice as Binoche and the two twenty-somethings flee Turturro, but its existentialist musings and breezy road movie charm are no replacement for espionage movie brains.
Patrick Peters, Empire Magazine
An inventive idea is let down by a weak script.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
A lot of dumb things have been said about 9/11. This might be the dumbest yet.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
A slow-burning thriller with an intriguing mystery at its centre, this film's tone is reminiscent of The Third Man, although updated to make some extremely provocative suggestions.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
Generally interesting but only sporadically compelling...
Boyd van Hoeij, european-films.net
Walks the fine line between thriller and thriller satire, sometimes taking small detours left and right of the line before rejoining the ranks. It is a tough balancing act but Amigorena mostly pulls it off.

Read all 17 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Linda K

It is hard to describe the film because it tackles many important issues such as politics, society, and the world in general. The film has many great qualities to it but the only flaw, i would say that it is the idea of using the 9/11 attack as part of the story. It isnt because the… More
It is hard to describe the film because it tackles many important issues such as politics, society, and the world in general. The film has many great qualities to it but the only flaw, i would say that it is the idea of using the 9/11 attack as part of the story. It isnt because the tragedy is too delicate to discuss but because any other tragic event (less important) could have made the point. In using the 9/11 attack is just to attract people in seeing this picture when it is not necessary because the script itself is already brilliant. The 3 protagonists have such great chemistry together in the film that it holds the story perfectly. Plus, they have the most interesting conversations. And John Turturro is so good that it worth seeing the film, just because of him. Overall, it is a film to see because of its great dialogues and amazing cast.