Détour

"Détour" had a good potential.Léo is an interesting character: a not-so-handsome middle -age man,a modest secretary (who claims he is an engineer);his sick wife treats him like a child (the first sequences),she is herself not attractive and bovine ;besides ,his boss is a woman ,an authoritative blonde who wants him too (but as a toy ,not as a man).His meeting with a hot babe may seem the birth of his manliness,the chance to prove he is a man;alas,this sexy girl is married ,and her husband is a crude jealous brute who beats her and treats her like a dog:the performance of the actor is a bit over the top and gets in the way;so does the thriller side which is quite derivative (and borrows from Clouzot's classic "Les Diaboliques");actually you guess what lies beneath before the "revelation".The film is a long flashback framed by pictures of Leo in close-ups;his words are moving and show what the movie could have been, had it remained a psychological drama instead of turning into a real farce sometimes.The movie also shows pollution and protection of the environment are a matters of great concern to Canadian people:it may have fitted the "Détour" concept but it is too quickly forgotten.