36 (2004)

Aka: 36 Quai des Orfèvres

Two of France’s finest male actors go head to head in this gritty, violent police thriller. Forget Gérard Depardieu’s shitty English language films, this is what he’s really capable of. Daniel Auteuil delivers, as usual, an equally gripping performance. Both men are detectives but in different departments; one follows the law when it suits him, the other makes his own law. They each want to solve the same case but for different reasons.
It’s stylistically similar at times to a Michael Mann film, but unlike Mann's overblown efforts this one isn't boring.

4 semi-autobiographical dramas out of 5

Anything for Her (2008)

Aka: Pour Elle

French drama about the lengths a man will go to in order to protect and rescue the woman he loves from the system and from herself. How far is too far? He walks the fine line between fulfilling an objective and succumbing to an obsession. The two leads are utterly believable and even when the story hurries over a few things to keep the pace it remains matter-of-fact and extremely powerful.

3½ beatings in a back alley out of 5