L'Homme du Train

2002 Director Patrice Leconte

Leconte gets the very best from Hallyday in this unusual tale of friendship, respect and alternative circumstances.

A bank robber and a retired literature teacher are thrown together by circumstances. As they start to listen to each other, both yearn for the life of the other in preference to their own. Each is driven forward by their own relentless circumstances unable to escape the fate that awaits them.

It is a touching study in the art of introspection, which is notoriously hard to do well on screen. Leconte succeeds superbly. This underrated film yields Hallyday's best performance. The film is darkly humorous and beautifully shot.