'Roman de Gare'

Rating:

Rafer Guzmán

April 25, 2008

ROMAN DE GARE (R). This fast-moving, brain-teasing mystery, the 49th film from the 70-year-old director Claude Lelouch ("A Man and a Woman"), begins by unraveling a skein of quintessentially French themes: identity, perception and, of course, sex. Dominique Pinon ("Amelie") plays a man loitering in a highway rest-stop who's either a serial killer, a ghostwriter for a bestselling author (the regal, vulnerable Fanny Ardant) or just another shlub having a midlife crisis.

After he picks up a tough-talking but naive young woman (the appealing French-American actress Audrey Dana), the film turns into an entertaining yarn full of lies, half-truths and nail-biting moments. But despite the superb acting and wonderfully sly dialogue (Lelouch also co-wrote the script), "Roman de Gare" can't tie all its bows neatly enough to be truly satisfying.

1:44 (adult themes). Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and Angelika Film Center, Manhattan.