Red Lights (2004) review

Seeing Simenon's name in the credits tipped me off as to what kind of film it was going to be, but I admit with regret that the rest of it failed to astound me. It's plenty obvious that Kahn is not Hitchcock in the slightest, so his art-house approach of long takes of driving or talking on the phone aren't nearly as effective as, say, the Master's use of visual gimmicks and music to create tension. The contrivances and logical loop-holes are poorly hidden or masked, and the 'joyful' resolution - the reuniting of the husband and wife - is particularly cruel to the wife, who is a harmless victim, while the husband on the other hand is an emotionally distant alcoholic and criminal conspirator who knew that the man he offered the ride was wanted by the police ... so therefore he's responsible for his own misery.