Feux rouges 2004

Critics score:
83 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: [The plot] is filled with ingenious deceptions and sleight-of-hand trickery. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: From Simenon's taut, breath-catching tale, writer-director Cedric Kahn has made an engrossing film with a great central performance by Jean-Pierre Darroussin. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: A remarkably compelling marital nightmare. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: An eerily affecting domestic drama combining elements of The Lost Weekend with Lost Highway. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Unexpected in every way. Read more

AV Club: Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Is it a memorable cinematic experience? Oddly, no. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Taut, atmospheric, impeccably made psychological thriller. Read more

Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: A weird road-trip spin on Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: Red Lights blends the blind tension of Hitchcock with a French sense of inevitability, leading us back and forth between action and surrender before ending just where it should. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: It evokes the spirit of Hitchcock and Highsmith, as Antoine undergoes an all-night odyssey that redeems his manhood, at the expense, naturally, of all good behavior. Read more

Charles Ealy, Dallas Morning News: Subtle and stylish, Red Lights will remind moviegoers not only of Ms. [Flannery] O'Connor but also of Alfred Hitchcock. Read more

Chuck Wilson, L.A. Weekly: The true mystery, Red Lights' real thrill ride -- and what seems to interest Kahn most, despite his skill at arranging the trappings of suspense -- is marriage. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: Austere little thriller that works its way under your skin even before much of anything happens. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: The most ambiguously compelling romance around. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: Emotion and aesthetics get equal play in this adaptation of a novel by Georges Simenon, creating high-tension entertainment of the highest order. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: Mr. Darroussin and Ms. Bouquet make Antoine and Helene such compelling characters that their lives seem to become precious by their very fragility. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: It is a chilly study of an uncomfortably common breed of male paranoia. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Barely makes it into the passing lane. It's stop-and-go all the way. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: One of the best thrillers I have seen this year: tight, taut, and unpredictable. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Thriller/mystery buffs might find the narrative slow; the thriller elements aren't introduced until the movie is nearly half over, and the mystery starts even later. But a dandy payoff will reward those who are patient. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Before it turns into a thriller, and goes badly awry, Red Lights paints a devastating little portrait of a marriage on the rocks. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Puts a tense, deteriorating marriage on a highway-bound collision course with a killer. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Read more

Time Out: Read more

Leslie Felperin, Variety: Kahn's direction is aces; he's learned the tricks from the masters of suspense and noir and added a spaced out sensibility of his own. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: A satisfyingly well-wrought, old-school thriller: Character drives the plot, literally. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: The film, like the cheap double-scotches quaffed down by the central character, leaves a distinctly sour aftertaste that's hard to wash away the morning after. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: As thrillers go, this one is domestic, mundane and hypnotic. Read more