Cortex (2008)

Director:

Nicolas Boukhrief

Writers:

Nicolas Boukhrief (writer)
Frédérique Moreau (writer)

Release Date:

30 January 2008 (Belgium)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A retired police inspector is stricken with Alzheimer's and decides to move into a residential clinic where he is puzzled by the sudden deaths of several patients.

Plot Keywords:

Investigation | Death | Suspicion | Retired Cop | Memory

Cast

André Dussollier	...	Charles Boyer
Marthe Keller	...	Carole Rothmann
Julien Boisselier	...	Thomas Boyer
Chantal Neuwirth	...	Francine
Claire Nebout	...	Sandra
Claude Perron	...	Béatrice Monnier
Laure Salama	...	Diane
Pascal Elbé	...	Docteur Chenot
Aurore Clément	...	Marie
Gilles Gaston-Dreyfus	...	Louis Brunet
Serge Renko	...	Jérémy
Elisabeth Macocco	...	Hélène
Anne-Marie Faux	...	Claire
Philippe Laudenbach	...	Daniel
Olivier Lejeune	...	Martin Chaffour

Runtime:

France:105 min | Germany:104 min (European Film Market)

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Filming Locations:

Dammartin-sur-Tigeaux, Seine-et-Marne, France

Company:

Les Films du Worso

Trivia:

Guillaume Canet was considered for the role of Thomas, finally played by Julien Boisselier.

Soundtrack:

Kaiserswalzer opus 437 (La valse de l'empereur)

A thriller that doesn't thrill

It's not easy to do a good movie. And it's even more ambitious and difficult for a director to escape a given genre. Unfortunately Nicolas Boukhrief failed in both exercises.

On paper Cortex looks promising. In fact the scenario seems in the same time strong interesting and original with potentially great characters to be developed

A retired cop name Charles Boyer who suffers from Alzheimer goes in a retirement clinic but starts to suspect murders. Who would believe him, is he delirious?

Unfortunately none of the promises were fulfilled. André Dussollier is a great actors, he portrays quite well this lost retired cop but never manages to be convincing as an Alzheimer. Nicolas Boukrhrief chooses to film none pertinent scenes and never give the supporting cast a chance to develop their characters. As a result they all appear as filler instead of backbone. Even the role of Charles Boyer's son is underdeveloped.

We witness a succession of emotionless scenes exploring myriads of themes. Nicolas Boukhrief talks about many subjects as a way to escape the Thriller genre. Retirement, Alzheimer, Father & Son relationship, Professional Relationship in a medical environment etc…all those themes are touched upon. The problem is none of those themes are explored in depth; they are all superficially thrown in.

The result is a thriller that doesn't thrill. A too fast ending raps up the main intrigue without providing the audience with a sense of progression and closure. And from an Alzheimer point of view the ending is at the very least naive and unrealistic.

I salute Nicolas Boukhrief 's Audacity. I am no film director and I am incapable of making a film. But I do prefer the characters to drive a story rather than the story to drive the characters. It's more difficult but it's the only way to escape a genre.