OxfordPress.com

Verdict: A character study disguised as a caper film.

Details: Starring Isabelle Huppert and Michel Serrault. Directed by Claude Chabrol. Not rated, but contains flashes of violence. In French with subtitles. 1 hour, 45 minutes.

Review: Claude Chabrol's 50th feature, "The Swindle," is a sweet-natured bit of flimflam fluff showcasing the old-pro charms of Isabelle Huppert and Michel Serrault. The two play Betty and Victor, small-time grifters whose usual prey are easily seduced conventioneers. Kindhearted con artists, they typically leave their marks a little cash and a nice kiss-off note.

The key to their continued success is a combination of caution and trust; they never get too greedy, and they depend on each other unquestionably. But Betty gets ambitious and embarks on a scheme involving a larcenous businessman (Francois Cluzet), his dangerous bosses and an attache case full of Swiss francs. Her solo swing is both a challenge and a threat to the older, more seasoned Victor, who, against his better judgment, goes along with her.

By the time fingers are being broken and necks nicked, the swindle itself has run out of steam. Plus, Chabrol could've moved things along a bit faster; we really don't need all those shots/plugs for Air France as the action moves from Switzerland to Guadalupe.

But the movie's strength is as a smartly acted two-hander in which we're never quite sure who's conning whom. Further, we're never absolutely sure who Betty and Victor are. That is, are they, in the grand movie tradition, May-December lovers? Or father and daughter? Or vastly enchanted-with-each-other partners in crime? Their rapport has a slight Nick-and-Nora quality from the celebrated 1930s "The Thin Man" comedy-mystery film series, but Huppert and Serrault are so unique that it's difficult to call them derivative of anyone. Huppert, who has starred for Chabrol in such masterful films as "Violette" and "La Ceremonie," radiates her customary catlike amorality ("I'm frivolous, not perverse," she purrs), while Serrault is both achingly vulnerable and eminently untrustworthy.

"The Swindle" spins a rigged roulette wheel of smart talk, gorgeous settings and possible betrayals. It's all more style than substance. But in the end, if you're going to let yourself be taken, why not be taken by the best?

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Cox News Service

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