Love Crime (2011)

67% of critics liked it
(57 reviews)
46% of users liked it
(1,363 ratings)

The final film from director Alain Corneau, Love Crime pits the fiery talents of Ludivine Sagnier and Oscar-nominee Kristin Scott Thomas against each other in a deliciously twisted tale of office politics that turn, literally, cut-throat. When Christine, a powerful executive (Scott Thomas), brings… More The final film from director Alain Corneau, Love Crime pits the fiery talents of Ludivine Sagnier and Oscar-nominee Kristin Scott Thomas against each other in a deliciously twisted tale of office politics that turn, literally, cut-throat. When Christine, a powerful executive (Scott Thomas), brings on a naive young ingenue, Isabelle (Sagnier), as her assistant, she delights in toying with her naivete and teaching her hard lessons in a ruthless professional philosophy. But when the protege's ideas become tempting enough for Christine to pass one as her own, she underestimates Isabelle's ambition and cunning- and the ground is set for all out war. In this devilish, propulsive thriller, Corneau sets up the scenery expertly and his actors devour it. -- (C) IFC

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.
Directed By: Alain Corneau
Written By: Alain Corneau
Genres: Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Sep 2, 2011 Limited
On DVD: Dec 27, 2011
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

Tom Long, Detroit News
Love Crime may not have much to do with love, but the crimes are meanly delicious.
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
This is a ridiculous movie - a thriller so indifferent to suspense, so above mystery that one character literally stabs another in the front.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Especially one in a power suit, who knows how to work a room.
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
On the one hand, you have to admire such obsessive mise en scene; on the other, there's something wrong with a suspense film when the sets are more interesting than the characters.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Corneau, a veteran of police procedurals and workplace dramas, skillfully plays out the scenarios of gamesmanship and humiliation, backstabbing and catfighting.
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
The craftsmanship lifts this genre exercise above the routine.
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Engrossing for about half its length, thanks especially to the icy Thomas, who switches back and forth between seductive charm and cold-blooded psychological cruelty, and between English and apparently flawless French.
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
And you think your last performance review went poorly.
Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
This often predictable mash-up of "All About Eve," "Disclosure" and "Fatal Attraction" is elegantly twisted enough to keep one's mind from wandering.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
The film's cleverness is undeniable -- and it's not every day that you find two performers like Kristin Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier pitted against each other.
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
The movie veers off in a different direction about two-thirds of the way through; the shift is initially jarring but eventually rewarding.
Tony Macklin, tonymacklin.net
Love Crime is a slick French cinema croissant filled with sweet and sour revenge. It may not leave much of an aftertaste, but while you're experiencing it, it's savory.
Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Would anyone really perpetrate a scheme as complicated and risky as Isabelle's? Not likely - but that's why we go to the movies.
Kelly Vance, East Bay Express
Ludivine Sagnier gives one of her best performances in this seductively nasty "business-world" thriller.
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix
Love Crime deconstructs the genre by showing how to put together a mystery in order to deceive and manipulate those who would try to take it apart.
Ian Buckwalter, DCist
Every office scene feels so blatantly like an actor trying to create an approximation of what office work and banter feels like, that it amounts to spending the entirety of a marionette show watching the puppeteer and not the puppets.
Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews
Alain Corneau once again looks at female friendship between mentor and protege in the workplace, where power struggles become all, but unlike "Fear and Trembling," ..."Love Crime" is a cross between a Chabrolian murder mystery and "All About Eve."
Peter Sobczynski, eFilmCritic.com
One of the best thrillers to come along in a while.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
If the prospect of having the rug pulled out from under you repeatedly sounds appealing, then it's a big "oui."

Read all 19 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

"Love Crime" starts with Christine(Kristin Scott Thomas) and her protege Isabelle(Ludivine Sagnier) working late into the night but struggling with a business proposal until Cristine's lover and business associate Philippe(Patrick Mille) shows up. Later, Isabelle finds… More
"Love Crime" starts with Christine(Kristin Scott Thomas) and her protege Isabelle(Ludivine Sagnier) working late into the night but struggling with a business proposal until Cristine's lover and business associate Philippe(Patrick Mille) shows up. Later, Isabelle finds a solution which earns her a trip to Cairo with the presentation and Philippe where the two get carnal on the side. However, it is Christine who ends up in line for a promotion when she takes credit for Isabelle's hard work. In response, Daniel(Guillaume Marquet) gives Isabelle a lead on a promising project. If that falls through, she could always invest in leather gloves and prescription medication. "Love Crime" works best with the psychosexual themes of its first half before a pure wow moment. After that, the movie drags about in its game playing before a neat kicker of an ending. Like some of the characters, the movie is not quite as smart as it thinks it is. Regardless, on cetral display quietly commanding the room is gender. Except for one late scene, Chrstine and Isabelle seem to be the only women in the corporate office. Isabelle might think of herself as being part of a sisterhood but this is irrelevant to Christine who is only in it for herself. All of which is part of a valuable lesson in corporate life where one should never confuse business with friendship and everybody has a breaking point. Christine is nice to Isabelle because of the work she does, not as a person.(Christine's smile is not a friendly one. It is the same one the big bad wolf would use.) In return, Isabelle naively develops a crush on her boss.
John M

"Love Crime" caught my attention because I read that Brian De Palma is working on the USA remake and I don't feel regret about watching it because it is a good classy psychological thriller from France that is well made and executed along with good performances. The… More
"Love Crime" caught my attention because I read that Brian De Palma is working on the USA remake and I don't feel regret about watching it because it is a good classy psychological thriller from France that is well made and executed along with good performances. The movie is set in the modern business world and it is about a young manager, Isabel, on her way to the top in a multinational corporation but her superior, Christine, is a woman of extreme power who manipulates her and harassing Isabel psychologically, and humiliating her without the least bit of remorse, as Christine is driven be an insatiable need for recognition. Pushed to the limit, Isabelle is forced to do the unthinkable.