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Lelouch returns in fine form with 'Roman de Gare'On May 16, 2008 Stylish thriller a return to form for New Wave vet Lelouch. In French with English subtitles BY GLENN WHIPP >Film Critic French New Wave vet Claude Lelouch returns to form with "Roman de Gare," a stylish, solidly constructed suspense movie full of deceit, misdirection and bubbly charm. Self-financed and initially released under a pseudonym, the film will undoubtedly please longtime fans who may have abandoned ship after Lelouch's ill-considered, now-aborted "Le Genre humain" trilogy. "Roman de Gare" premiered last year at Cannes, with Lelouch only revealing his authorship after the fact. The gambit ties into the film's story of a mysterious man, who is probably a ghost writer (Dominique Pinon) for an immensely popular mystery novelist (Fanny Ardant) and may well also be a serial killer known as the Magician. (So named because he lures teens with magic tricks before murdering them.) The Magician has just escaped from a high-security prison. On the road, the ghost writer meets a distraught woman (Audrey Dana) at a gas station. Her fiance has just dumped her. She enlists the ghost writer/serial killer to pose as her estranged husband. Will they fall in love? Or will she become his latest victim? It's also worth noting that the ghost writer/serial killer might not be either of those things, but merely a Parisian schoolteacher who has abandoned his family. Needless to say, there's a lot going on here. Lelouch digs into the elaborate plot with glee, helped immensely by the pliable Pinon and the mischievous mystery carried off by Ardant. As is often the case, the payoff doesn't quite deliver on the intricate set-up, but the movie's potent combination of romance and suspense delivers enough pleasures to recommend. Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 review> ROMAN DE GARE >R: brief language, sexual references.
 
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