An engrossing French psychological thriller with jet black sense of humor, Director Dominik Moll has only made one other feature film, but looks very much like someone who has spent a lifetime fine tuning and constructing psychological thrillers. Moll's "With a Friend Like Harry" is a nervy, successful reworking of Hitchcockian themes and devices, with particular attention to the allure of the sociopath. On a hot day in a highway gas station men's room, a man Michel (Laurent Lucas), doesn't recognize a stranger who says they went to school together. His name is Harry, played by Sergi López. He suggests they have a drink, so he and his girlfriend follow Michel and his family to their summer place. Michel is amazed when Harry quotes from memory a poem Michel wrote in school. Harry thinks Michel is a great writer, and he's distressed that Michel hasn't written in years. Harry stays awhile, and sets out to eliminate distractions that might keep Michel from writing. The first thing Harry does for Michel--he buys him a new car despite Michel demanding that he does not. What a guy! However, this extraordinary act of kindness sets off a chain of events, and suspicious things begin to happen. Michel picks up a pen and Harry is gratified, but he's not finished being Michel's self-appointed patron. From the moment Harry is introduced to us, director Dominik Moll manages to saddle you up with an uncomfortable feeling. As the story slowly burns, it all becomes more and more unsettling. The devastating occurrences this family will endure will come from someone they've already invited into their comfort zone. And by the time they start realizing that, it's too late--and bad is already getting worse.Moll flushes develops the characterizations of the family members and their daily interactions, and wisely keeping things simple. While you start to recognize these subtleties, it enhances the awareness that Harry's abnormal behavior is seeping into the lives of these very normal people. Even in scenes where Harry is not featured, you keep him in mind, as his presence permeates, and saturates the storyline. Lòpez strikes the right note with his performance -- carefully balancing between overtly friendly to just plain crazy. At no point does he go shamelessly over the top, nor does the film really feature any excessive outbursts of violence. The mild brilliance of this film, lies with the question as to what Harry's motivation is, and what the outcome of it all will be. An intriguing, fully-engrossing psychological thriller that takes us deep into a world where answers aren't always provided. In fact, we are never sure where the plot is leading us. Mysterious, suspenseful, and a devilish sense of humor. With a friend like Harry, who needs family?

Another deservedly acclaimed French thriller but, as opposed to the kinetic and twist-laden TELL NO ONE (2006), this is a slow-burn and (relatively) simply-plotted film with, if anything, even more emphasis on characterization. Again, this elicits memories of earlier suspensers – notably Alfred Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951) and the Stephen King adaptation MISERY (1990), whose narratives are neatly amalgamated here – as we get the title character, a rich wastrel and casual acquaintance of the hero who gradually reveals psychotic tendencies, misguidedly lending a helping hand to sort out the latter's domestic problems while, at the same time, being somewhat obsessed by the young man and resenting in particular his (unconscious) decision to suppress the talent he once possessed as an author! Like the Guillaume Canet film I mentioned earlier, much of the power of the piece emanates from careful casting and, in fact, all four leads (the others being the two protagonists' respective partners, with the hero's wife being played by Mathilde Seigner, sister of Roman Polanski's wife Emmanuelle) deliver good performances. As I said, the film essentially maintains a low-key throughout, even in its moments of violence (with a couple actually occurring off-screen!) so that we get no CAPE FEAR-type melodramatics. The last act is quite interesting as, first, I half-expected the film to turn into a variation on PERFORMANCE (1970) with the villain disappearing for a while and the hero not only picking up some of the former's idiosyncrasies but even takes an active interest in his girl!; then, it almost takes a leaf from Claude Chabrol's LA CEREMONIE (1995) when Harry tries to persuade his 'idol' to get rid of the latter's family for good. However, it finally settles on (effectively) reprising the ironic twist which concludes LA FEMME INFIDELE (1968), a much earlier Chabrol effort (an obvious influence here, that film-maker being officially recognized as "The French Hitchcock"). Though one can fault the movie its slight overlength (116 minutes), an even bigger regret is the fact that the script treats proceedings a little too earnestly rather than approach them as black comedy! On a personal note, the fact that the protagonist here is a 34-year old former writer (I will be that same age in August and have not 'created' anything for the last 8 years!) struck a little too close to home for comfort!

This cinematically beautiful and absorbing film grabs the viewer immediately and never lets go. As with all successful films the cast is engaging and handsome and the story unique and unpredictable - you just never know what will happen next. The homo-erotic element is apparent and at any moment you expect the two male leads to hop into bed but they never do and you wonder why knowing full well the homo-erotic tension cannot be ignored and should explode at any moment in a way that catches us completely off guard. The fact it never happens actually makes the story more interesting because the viewer had to figure out what the heck is going on - since it is apparent that one man is obsessed with the other man for reasons which are never fully fleshed out and which can only be understood within a homo-erotic context. The fact that both male leads are handsome and involved with beautiful women only makes the underlying homo-erotic theme more interesting and intense.

One of the first moments of this movie makes inevitably think of "Shining" (1980) by Stanley Kubrick and "Funny Games" (1997) by Michael Haneke: an aerial shot which follows a car on the highway. Inside it, a typical French family who goes on holiday in their country house hoping to find some peace. It's particularly true for the parents, Michel and his wife who seem to be all keyed up because of their restless children. On a rest area, Michel meets an old school friend: Harry who proposes Michel to come and spend a couple of days to his country house. The latter accepts. From the beginning, Harry appears as a charismatic and mysterious character. Who is he? Where does he come from? What does he want? We learn very few things about him or just vague facts. The director Dominik Voll preferred to leave high and dry Harry's origins and it's better this way because the spectator can imagine whatever he wants about him. Be that as it may, we can bring a beginning of answer to the third quoted question: Harry wishes Michel well and he's ready to do anything for this, even to kill...After a six-year absence (his last movie was "intimacy" in 1994), Dominik Voll made a successful comeback with "With a Friend like Harry" (2000). He seduced both the critics and the public and won 4 French Oscars in 2001 including Best Actor for Sergi Lopez. It's funny to note down that the basic idea for his second feature-length film came to him from a holiday memory when, just like Michel he met an old school friend which he hadn't seen for years. This trivial detail inspired him to focus his movie on the theme of the double. Besides, the first apparition of the two main protagonists happens in front of a mirror. Harry can be considered the incarnation of Michel's repressed drives and buried desires. In a way, he's what Michel would like to be or to do (consciously or not). I think there are numerous examples in Voll's opus and I will retain the three following points: Harry enjoys a perfect sexual life (eating a raw egg after an orgasm is good for health!) and perhaps Michel would like to know something similar to this. Then, Harry kills Michel's parents and every time the latter invites them for lunch or dinner, he has to fetch them: his father can't drive for medical reasons. Perhaps, Michel has hidden death wishes about his parents. At last, by congratulating Michel about the writings he made in high school, Harry probably wakes in Michel hidden desires of writer. Roughly, Harry wants to help his friend to advance in life, no matter what the price is."With a friend like Harry" is Voll's second film in six years but his making is absolutely awesome. If the beginning of the movie turns out to be a little trite:how many times in cinema have we seen the trick of the helpful character invading a so far peaceful universe? But fortunately, once this moment passed, the rest makes forget this weakness. The movie adopts a slow rhythm without hastes and opts for the unexpected to play with the spectator's nerves. Dominik Voll weaves a more and more heavy even stifling atmosphere marked out by Michel's psychological changing who seems to become a little unrecognizable to his wife. Besides, she tells to Harry: "you've got a bad influence on Michel". This heavy atmosphere is reinforced by a precise and rigorous making which favors close-up shots and the length of quite numerous sequences. Overrall the director achieved a tour de force by mixing several cinema genres in a coherent story. What is close to comedy in the beginning of the story ends up turning to drama and thriller and the abrupt changes of tone follow on from each other with a diabolical logic. Moreover, Voll knows how to use black humor and certain moments give sometimes to the work an eccentric side.Needless to say that the cast is largely equal to the story. Already remarked in the invigorating "Western" (1997) by Manuel Poirier (whose he is one of his favorite actors), Sergi Lopez finds the role of his life in Harry. It will certainly be hard for him to equal his performance in the future.Highly recommended, "With a Friend like Harry" is a work that can be understood on several levels. It's a fascinating work and however we come out of the projection with a little uneasiness because of Michel's disturbing face. Harry's influence has altered him and he looks threatening as if he was going to commit something bad. As for Harry, in the domain of the pain in the neck characters, he is, in the long run, not exactly like Seraphin Lampion in "the adventures of Tintin"!