The Crime Is Mine (2023) Review: Murder as a Career Move

Is The Crime Is Mine worth watching?

Yes, with reservations. The Crime Is Mine is an elegant, very funny period farce that turns a murder case into a satire of celebrity, and it is consistently entertaining even if it never cuts especially deep. François Ozon’s direction is light and assured, the 1930s design is gorgeous, and the cast plays the material with obvious relish. The limitation is weight: this is a confection rather than a thriller, and viewers expecting a real mystery or strong emotional stakes may find it slight.

What is The Crime Is Mine about?

In 1930s Paris, Madeleine (Nadia Tereszkiewicz) is a young actress with more beauty than bookings, sharing a cramped flat and a pile of unpaid rent with her best friend Pauline (Rebecca Marder), an out-of-work lawyer. When a powerful theatre producer is found dead, Madeleine becomes the prime suspect. Rather than simply protest her innocence, the two women spot an opportunity: a sensational murder case, handled cleverly, could make an unknown actress famous. The more attention the case attracts, the more people want a share of the story, including a faded star of the silent screen, played by Isabelle Huppert, who has her own reasons for taking an interest.

The Crime Is Mine was written and directed by François Ozon, adapted from a 1930s stage comedy. It is a French production in French, and it runs 103 minutes. Dany Boon and Fabrice Luchini are among the supporting cast.

Ozon’s taste for theatrical artifice

Ozon has returned several times to boulevard theatre as source material, and he clearly loves its rhythms: quick entrances, verbal sparring, characters who talk themselves into and out of trouble. Here he leans into that artifice with confidence. The film has the brightness and pace of a stage comedy, but it is also visually rich, with art deco apartments, courtrooms and dressing rooms rendered in warm, burnished colour.

The costumes, which earned a César nomination, are a particular pleasure, and Ozon uses them as part of the joke: as Madeleine’s notoriety grows, so does her wardrobe. The film’s playful references to the cinema of the era, including brief nods to silent film, add to the sense of a director enjoying himself.

A trio of performers in fine comic form

Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Rebecca Marder make a lively double act. Tereszkiewicz plays Madeleine as ambitious, vain and more resourceful than she first appears, while Marder’s Pauline is the brains of the partnership, clever and quietly exasperated by a legal profession that barely acknowledges her. Their friendship gives the film a light but genuine feminist edge, as two young women exploit a system that has never done them any favours.

Isabelle Huppert, meanwhile, is gloriously over the top. Her faded star arrives late but steals nearly every scene she is in, with a theatrical grandeur and comic timing that show a performer having enormous fun. Fabrice Luchini and Dany Boon add broad but effective support as men who think they are in control of the situation.

Where the froth thins out

The film’s satire of the press, the courts and the public’s appetite for scandal is sharp, but it rarely goes beyond the obvious. The murder itself is treated as a pretext, so there is little suspense in how the case unfolds. In its later stretches, as Huppert’s character takes over more of the story, the plot becomes busier without becoming more interesting, and some of the comic set pieces run longer than their jokes.

Those looking for a satisfying whodunit will be disappointed. Those in the mood for wit, style and a cast enjoying itself will find plenty to like.

Who should watch The Crime Is Mine?

It is a good pick for fans of French comedy, period farce and theatrical adaptations, and for admirers of Isabelle Huppert in a rare broad comic role. The content is mild, with some innuendo and a murder that is played for laughs rather than horror, and the 103-minute runtime makes it an easy, breezy evening.

If you want more in a similar spirit:

• Swimming Pool, Ozon’s much cooler, more ambiguous take on writing, desire and a possible crime.
• The Artist, another French film with a sly, affectionate eye on the stars of early cinema.
• Amélie, for Parisian whimsy with a heroine who bends the world to her schemes.

The verdict

The Crime Is Mine is a chic, clever and thoroughly enjoyable farce that uses a murder case to poke fun at fame, justice and the stories people sell. It is too light to linger long in the memory, but Ozon’s control, the gorgeous 1930s design and a scene-stealing Isabelle Huppert make it an easy recommendation.

Rating: 3.8/5