FilmBlather.com

Finally, a French movie that does not depend on lovers in coffee shops as its main narrative thrust.

I'm being unfair, I know. French cinema is, after all, one of the world's most celebrated, and who am I to criticize? I have, however, been dissatisfied with most of their latest offerings; I've much preferred Italy, with gems like Life is Beautiful and Not of This World to name a couple. Perhaps it's that lovers in coffee shops isn't my favorite genre, but I was extremely relieved to watch With a Friend Like Harry, in which there isn't a coffee shop in sight.

The film is being actively marketed as "Hitchcockian," though I think that it starts with Hitchcock and, for better or worse, goes from there. The plot seems simple, but as it unravels layers are revealed. In the middle of a tortuous road trip with his wife and two girls, Michel (Laurent Lucas) goes into a rest stop bathroom and runs into Harry (Sergi López), who claims that they knew each other in college. Michel doesn't remember him, but is convinced of Harry's sincerety when he recites, by heart, an obscure poem Michel wrote for his college literary journal. The poem was called "Dagger in the Skin of Night."

Before Michel can say "who needs enemies," his new friend has invited himself and his airheaded girlfriend Plum (Sophie Guillemin) to Michel's home for dinner. Then he becomes a houseguest. Claire (Mathilde Seigner), Michel's wife, thinks Harry is an amiable fellow, and so does Michel himself, but there is something odd about him. He doesn't take "no" for an answer. He drinks raw egg yolks to heighten his sexual sensitivity. He claims he doesn't want to impose, but he does, actively and inevitably. Their suspicions are confirmed when Harry buys them a brand new SUV as a gift, and all but forces them to accept it.

It's fairly easy to guess where the film goes from there. Harry simply takes "being helpful" to a new level, eliminating those who he believes hinder Michel's happiness. According to Harry, Michel must continue writing a science fiction novel he started in college about monkeys with propellers on their heads (there may be some subtext to this, but I missed it). With a Friend Like Harry becomes a slasher film, though, again, it's the kind of slasher film Hitchcock might make as opposed to Wes Craven.

The movie works first and foremost as a thriller. The best kind of suspense, I think, results not from car chases and shootouts, but from gradually mounting tension, which is exactly where director Dominik Moll comes through. Though I knew where the action was headed -- the advertising gave away the premise long ago -- I was interested to see how it was going to turn an old acquantance into a murderer. The transformation is captivating; to watch Harry go from a buddy to a curiosity, to a nuisance, to a menace is more exciting than any number of fiery explosions. So skillfully is this done, that it's hard to tell at what point we realize that Harry isn't what he seems (or is exactly what he seems, only to a much more radical extent).

I may be alone in thinking that the ending wasn't much of a payoff, too understated for the steadily increasing dread that preceded it. But the ending doesn't really need to be spectacular. This is the kind of movie where it matters how you get there. If you're tired of horror films that consist of uncommonly good looking teenagers being killed off by some guy in a mask who pops out of closets, go see it.