The first two thirds of this was terrific - Romy Schneider and Alain Delon (a one time real life couple) hanging around a swimming pool in their fancy house in the south of France, looking hot and engaging in (it is heavily implied) some kinky sex; then Schneider's ex, Maurice Roget, turns up with his nubile bikini wearing daughter, Jane Birkin, and when Ronet bats his eyes at Schneider, then Delon figures he'll have a crack at Birkin. There's a lot of cock-off-ing between Ronet and Delon who's a recovering alcoholic, and Birkin talking about how Ronet likes it when people think she's her father's girlfriend.
It's slow paced but the four leads are excellent cast and very good looking and glamorous and the location helps a lot. It all builds logically to Ronet falling in the pool and Delon drowning him. But after that, when the film should get more complex/thrilling/something it slows down and just becomes "will Delon get away with it" as an inspector pokes around and hey presto... yep, he does. Birkin's character becomes entirely passive, as does Schneider's.... and I felt the movie just fizzled. Maybe I was overly influenced by Les Diaboliques and was hoping for something along those lines - sorry, can't help it. I went with the slow moving atmosphere but wanted more of a pay off - another plot twist, or some really interesting character stuff, another death, something.
But fans of the four lead stars will enjoy it and it did pass the time. It's four people hanging around a swimming pool in a beautiful location - these are the sort of movies we could easily make in Australia.
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