Paul and his wife, Sarah (Marina Fois), argue over the fact that she feels neglected and held back from being a writer. But his sudden success could blow his cover. Soon, Paul/Greg has become the celebrated photographer that both once yearned to be.

He begins taking pictures of local workers, which are spotted by the French expat editor (Niels Arestrup) of a local newspaper. Using Greg's name and a new phony passport, Paul settles in shabbily scenic Montenegro. Within a few days, Paul has convinced everyone that he's dead, and that Greg has gone on assignment to Eastern Europe. Although there's no suggestion that Paul has ever practiced criminal law, he turns out to be something of an expert at disposing of bodies and switching identities. Paul confronts Greg, and in the scuffle the latter accidentally dies. Paul's annoyance with Greg increases when he notices that the guy shares certain small intimacies with Sarah. It galls him that his longtime neighbor, Greg (Eric Ruf), has pursued that career, even if he's not very successful at it. What he wanted, and still does, was to be a photographer. It's not a good time for Paul's mentor (Catherine Deneuve, in a cameo) to announce that she'll be gone soon and is leaving the firm to him. There are hints that she's having an affair.

His wife, Sarah (Marina Fois), is smart and beautiful, and his two young sons are cute.īut Sarah thinks that Paul neglects her and has undermined her dream of becoming a writer. The junior partner in a successful Paris law firm, Paul looks like a movie star - perpetually unshaven, with a mop of black hair and the pantherlike presence of Duris, France's most feral film actor. The original French title of The Big Picture - an adaptation of a novel by American expatriate writer Douglas Kennedy - means 'the man who wanted to live his life.' That's pointedly ironic, since this existential thriller is about a person who seeks personal freedom by becoming somebody else.Īside from the crying baby who wakes him in the opening scene, Paul (Romain Duris) seems to have an enviable life. With: Romain Duris, Marina Fois, Niels Arestrup

The big picture by douglas kennedy