Sorry, this movie sucks

Better Late Then Never

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

That's how Jonathan Ross describes this French subtitled movie, when he introduced it when it was shown on the satellite French movie channel, Cinemoi.The now almost famous (to us Brits) Vincent Cassel, playing 'Brisseau' and his wife, Barbara, or Lisa, (Monica Belucci) are the couple in question and are part of ring of agents, totally professional, taking great care to meticulously plan everything. They don't ask questions. Maybe they should...Out in Angola, is a bloody civil war and that requires guns, lots of them. A Russian arms dealer, trading from Switzerland is going to send a ship-load of weapons out there. The Secret Agents are set the task of going out to Morocco and sabotaging this sailing by planting explosives on the vessel and blowing it up.So, that's the premise, interesting and realistic and to do just that would be far too straightforward, right?The movie moves along quite quickly, shot in old style, i.e. steady cameras instead of wobbly, jarring ones. But there is excitement too, with well-shot stunts, especially car chases (French thrillers always do them well) and moody mellower moments. It's humourless and efficient and we aren't asked to like, or approve of the protagonists or what they do. It gets sufficiently complex to be satisfying, it's well acted and about the right length.It's a good thriller, but somehow not a great one. It needs an extra something, though what this is difficult to pinpoint. It doesn't quite reach 7/10, for me, but is very close. Whether it's worth buying as a DVD and at the present cost, is a different matter. But rented or on Cinemoi, then it's a great choice for a mid-week action movie.

A team of secret agents – Raymond (Sergio Peris-Mencheta), Loic (Ludovic Schoendoerffer), Lisa (Monica Bellucci) and their leader Brisseau (Vincent Cassel) – is assigned by the French Agency in a mission called Janua to sink the general cargo vessel "Anita Hans" in Casablanca. The ship is transporting weapons for the rebels in the civil war of Angola that are using diamonds to pay the dealer Igor Lipovsky (Serge Avedikian). Brisseau and Lisa are advised by an American agent to abort their mission, but their superiors order them to ignore. When the mission is successfully accomplished, Lisa is framed and arrested in the airport with 150 g of heroine. When Raymond is killed, Brisseau realizes that they have been betrayed and he tries to release Lisa from the prison."Agents Secrets" is a bitter and realistic original story of manipulation and betrayal, showing the dangerous, lonely and empty lives of secret agents, where the interest of a nation is above any principle of ethics, as Machiavelli observed and wrote in the Fifteenth Century. Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci have excellent lead performances, well supported by a great European cast, and the action scenes are really very impressive. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Agentes Secretos" ("Secret Agents")

Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel team up again after "Irreversible" in this decent movie that I recommend due to its simplicity and gripping storyline. Despite some definite defects (Bellucci's acting firstly), it shows a couple well working together and having a strong chemistry; a lot of intrigues, cover ups, action scenes. Shot in Casablanca, Geneva and Southern France (I guess) it can be seen as a motion picture that rarely loses its grip, well scripted and acted. The only objections I can find are Monica's Bellucci's role and the shortage of something that might have avoided the film to fall into the ordinary spy genre, like a stage trick revealing something new.

I've expected to have a different look from the French film industry to a spy trivia rather than imitating the American flavor. Whatever you do, imitation is an imitation and you can't get rid of that.Although the scenario has some potential, it seems they've missed the point and got bored in the story telling. Monica Bellucci is a really beautiful and talented actress whom I admire, but she got lost in the movie with the same dull look and it seems she didn't like her role too... The best casting is Vincent Cassel and he's probably the only one who took it seriously. The chief staff of the secret missions are too light to be described as bosses. The action scenes are rare and not so devastating. The camera use is fine though.If you have some spare time, you may enjoy the film, but don't expect too much of it. 6 out of 10.