Avis des critiques

The premise for this Belgian crime thriller seems generic, but the tension escalates steadily.

The character examination is utterly predictable, and when the movie breaks free of its domestic discomfort for a road trip with some ridiculous/absurd diversions, it’s merely building to a grisly and repellent punchline that represents tough-boy cinematic nihilism at its most tedious.

Mr. Pront doesn’t have much new to say on these themes, but he does have a strong sense of place and a brisk, gritty directing style. Even though, in retrospect, “The Ardennes” feels a little obvious and secondhand, it unfolds with enough speed and wit to hold your attention.

The Belgian crime drama The Ardennes is predictably tense and violent, but its aesthetic pleasures are also considerable. Director Robin Pront plays a lot of familiar notes, but with just enough verve and variation to keep things interesting.

It aims for realism (for instance, in its underlining of the brothers' Flemish roots), but it mainly follows the path of cliché. Everything seems to have been woven from memories of other movies dealing with similar plot material.

Closer to the absurdism of Martin McDonagh (“In Bruges”) than to some of first-time feature helmer Robin Pront’s acknowledged models (Tarantino, the Coens), the movie is slow to reveal its nastier elements, appearing for two-thirds of its running time to be merely an absorbing, low-key drama about a troubled family reuniting after one son’s release from prison.