I find it both interesting and apposite that some of the reviews here invite comparison with the singular world of Patricia Highsmith. There is indeed at times the same air of unreality, amorality and lawbreakers leading charmed lives. The characters may perhaps best be described as separate strands of seaweed on the edge of the Sargasso sea; dead or at least lifeless to a certain extent but with just enough current to prevent them coalescing but touching, drifting apart and touching again. Someone has already pointed out the 'borrowing' from Kubrick and it IS stretching credibility to have Stephen Freiss transporting so much money in such a beat-up attache case, in fact the entire end sequence relies heavily on coincidence that finds three people - one cop on vacation plus two people fleeing for various but linked reasons -converging in the same place at the same time. Nicole Garcia has emerged as a very fine director (L'Adversaire, Place Vendome) and was an equally fine actress as she shows here in a finely judged performance as what might be describes as a Fruitcake's Fruitcake; she kicks off the film by stabbing her own young (ten or so) daughter in the hand for the flimsiest of reasons; years later she inflicts herself on that same daughter (Sandrine Kiberlain), now 1) adult, 2) successful - a best-selling novel, a large house in a desirable location and 3) a mother herself. She finds it strange that her daughter Betty (still bearing the scar of the knife wound) is not prepared to leave her young son alone in the house and go out to dinner and later, walking in the grounds she discovers the body of the boy, her grandson, let us not forget, who has fallen out of the bedroom window, and views it with a mixture of curiosity and detachment. A distraught and withdrawn Betty is hardly a million laffs so Mom thoughtfully snatches the first approximate lookalike she sees and brings him home like a cat brings home a mouse and blithely announces that two friends have gone on vacation and left their son with her. Betty's not buying this for birdseed and the truth does indeed soon emerge but here we are faced with another touch of the Highsmiths; the mother of the kidnapped boy (Mathilde Seigner) is a hooker in all but name and not really concerned that her son has gone missing which is highly convenient. We're now pursuing one plot strand that explores Betty's gradual bonding with the boy, another centered on Seigner's latest live-in (two months) lover, jealous of her involvement with other men and under suspicion himself, sicking the police onto gigolo Stephen Freiss, who may or may not be the father of the missing boy. Freiss's latest conquest, a mega-rich younger woman has improbably gone on vacation for three months leaving him in charge of her very well-appointed house but little else. He mentions his new situation to Seigner over a coffee and she suggests he sell the house, which he proceeds to do. The cops come to the house but figure he's innocent and leave it at that. One of the cops 'plants' the information that he's going on vacation any minute now. A little more of this and we have a set up where Kiberlain is taking the boy out of the country to start a new life, Freiss is also leaving with a briefcase full of bread and a cop and his family are off on vacation, all at the same time and at the same airport. A woman sitting next to Freiss asks him to mind her small boy whilst she goes to the powder room. He is happy to oblige. Cop sees him with boy. Chase. Briefcase opens. Kiss the money goodbye. Meanwhile Betty's plane takes off. If you can swallow all this you'll love it. The acting is of the highest standard across the board. Garcia, Kiberlain and Seigner are three exceptional talents and they are well supported. In short, a winner.
Review of Alias Betty
