Entertainment

NOTHING AS IT SEEMS IN CINEMATIC JOURNEY

I’VE never though of diminutive Domin ique Pinon as the leading-man type, but rather as a cultish character actor in such films as “Diva” (1981), “Delicatessen” (1991) and “Alien: Resurrection” (1977).

However, he acquits himself quite well as a ladies’ man in “Roman de Gare,” directed by Claude Lelouch, who’s remembered by Francophiles for the 1966 romance “A Man and a Woman.”

We first meet Pinon’s character, Pierre, at a highway rest stop where he’s performing magic tricks.

Pierre is a teacher who has just left his wife and kids. Or perhaps he’s a ghostwriter for a famous novelist (Fanny Ardant). Or then again, he might even be a serial killer.

As a matter of fact, all three leading characters aren’t necessarily what they seem.

Ardant’s Judith might also be a killer, and Huguette (Audrey Dana), whom Pierre picks up at the rest stop when her fiancé ditches her in the middle of the night, is a hairdresser who once worked on Princess Diana, or maybe a hooker. Get the idea?

“Roman de Gare” translates as “station novel,” a book you might pick up to read on a train journey and then discard when you arrive at your destination.

Lelouch’s film is the cinematic equivalent, enjoyable fluff that your mind will discard after the closing credits – but worth seeing nevertheless.

In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 103 minutes. Rated R (sexuality, murder). At the Lincoln Plaza and the Angelika.