Grand Central *** (2013, Tahar Rahim, Léa Seydoux, Olivier Gourmet, Denis Ménochet) – Movie Review

Tahar Rahim stars in Grand Central (2013) as unskilled young worker Gary Manda, who takes the only job he can as a decontamination operative at a lower Rhone valley nuclear power plant. Olivier Gourmet and Denis Ménochet co-star as plant supervisor Gilles and veteran Toni (Denis Ménochet) who teach Gary the ropes. Soon it turns out that radiation contamination is a scary everyday hazard.

When the film focuses on the men, the action, the daily routine and the risks at the power plant, it is fascinating. But its soapy triangular love story about Gary’s illicit affair with Toni’s sexily boyish fiancée Karole (Léa Seydoux, Emma in Blue Is the Warmest Colour) is far less interesting. That is a shame because the more than capable actors are up for it.

The atmosphere of the small town and the power plant is well handled, convincing and revealing, and the issues arising from the situation and plot are up there on screen. But, after around half way, the film starts to ebb away, and it ends up not as compulsive or satisfying as you would hope. There is a hint that love story is the main issue and that the power plant is only being used as a metaphor for the young couple’s toxic, radio-active love affair. If so, that is a real shame.

Rahim is a very good little actor, though, and his quietly compelling performance helps keep Grand Central focused and often quite impressive. Even if it doesn’t quite work, co-writer/director Rebecca Zlotowski shows a lot of promise in this, her second movie as director, after Belle Épine (2010), which also starred Seydoux.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Movie Review

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