Guy
THE PREY is a French take on the man-on-the-run genre. This time our hero is a bank robber in prison who makes the mistake of trusting someone he shouldn't. Soon his stashed loot has been stolen and his family are under attack. Naturally he breaks out, leading to a three way race where he pursues the man who betrayed him whilst being chased by a driven female cop. Cue lots of hanging off trains, running into oncoming traffic and jumping out of windows. It's a very pure film, with little in the way of sub-plots, which keeps the suspense up and builds thrilling sequences. Dupontel and his hilarious curly hairdo bring a much needed humanity to the main character, who must be made of rubber considering the absurd amount of damage he takes only to keep running. The villain is also effectively creepy. It never aspires to be anything more than entertainment, but more than lives up to its promise, right down to the soppily happy ending.
jlpicard1701E
I am not, as many movie-goers, a fan of all French movies, especially not these days, when every French movie-maker tends to "ape" the Hollywood stream.Yet, said that, occasionally, there are some tiny gems that stand out from the rest, and this is just the case with "La Proie" (English - The Prey).It starts very slowly and at first it seems your common jailbird caper. A prison, two convicts and confined rooms pervaded by harsh conditions, but soon things start to happen which turn everything upside-down.The question then is, who is the Prey and who the Hunted.In a very tightly knit thriller, action upon action, cut upon cut, the story unfolds in front of our eyes and keeps us biting our nails to see what happens next.Suddenly, nothing and nobody is or stays what he or she once was. The innocent is guilty and the guilty is the innocent, but who and when and how they turn to be like that is just a matter of turns in the storyline.The end of it all is also a surprise. Not your usual Happy Ending a la Hollywood, but rather a "staccato" ending, in which one tends to say, "well, it's a French movie and therefore it has to end tragically", ah... but wait, there is a surprise, an Easter Egg if you want and you leave with a sense of satisfaction after an intense ride on the edge of a razor blade.Granted, some scenes could remind us to a certain pace in the famed James Bond movies, in which certain characters jump from bridges and land unharmed on a platform, yank themselves out of a window on the third floor only to land unscathed on a minivan's rooftop, but this is just a movie and we can easily forgive such heroics, even if a bit unreal (everyone else would brake a bone, strain a muscle or rip a tendon).Still harm comes to everyone and no one is really a super-hero here. It is probably the Adrenalin pumping that keeps our characters doing what they do.Yet, unlike so many other action capers these days, there is even space for some solid good acting by everyone involved. The direction is competent and skillful, but the real secret as always, lies in the excellent editing of this movie.One suggestion though. If you want to really enjoy the movie, try to watch it in its original French language with perhaps, English subtitles to help you out, because the dialogue is important to fully understand the mind-frame of the characters. A competent dubbing could also do the trick, but alas, in my experience, dubbing depends on the translation and the translator, and one can seldom rely on a faithful transliteration of the original text.Therefore, since this is one of those rare cases of movie enjoyment, with a solid and interesting story, expert acting and directing and a considerable amount of thrills I have added it to my list of films that have to be seen and perhaps even collected.For you to judge whether the effort was worthwhile or not, but I can guarantee you that you won't be disappointed. But then again, taste is taste and we all have different parameters for this.Oh, and by the way, the German title has been changed from "On the Run" to "Traue Niemandem" (Trust No One). In fact there are so many movies called "On the Run" that one could get easily confused. But in view to the fact that the Main character states many times that he doesn't trust anyone, this seems indeed to be the appropriate Title for the movie.
kosmasp
Is the "german" title for this movie. And while it isn't really a translation of the original title it does fit well. A very action packed thriller, that has a good setting, that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I'm almost certain they will make an US remake of it, as they tend to do with good french thrillers nowadays.Actually you could say though, that this is a remake of sorts of an US film. If you don't want to know what I mean or think this might be a spoiler for the other movie just don't read the last paragraph (that's the next one). I can only tell you that if you like thrillers, than you will love this. And now onto the comparison: I think it's a bit like the Fugitive. Which of course itself was a remake and inspired by other movies. The Tommy Lee Jones role gets played by a beautiful young french actress here though, but don't be fooled by her looks. She can be as tough as she needs to be!
ci_oragwu
It is a pretty cool movie, one of those you would want to watch without having to think through it. This flick makes the transporter series look 'silly'.The story draws you in, but minimal critical analysis leaves a lot to be desired. The action sequences are interesting, but the protagonist never stops to catch a breadth literally. It may well pass for the fact that the unnecessary parts are diced away to make for an interesting 103mins of your time-but movies are supposed to be improved upon these kinds of errors have been seen in flicks in the past. All these said, I still think the characters-with particular reference to their personalities were well represented and I wish them better roles in the future.
