Secret Agents (2004)

People are voting emotionally.

best movie i've ever seen.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Like the title says ,this movie wants to give the impression its a realistic view at the life of secret agents.These people are usually ex-special forces people,who become something like mercenaries for usually executing the dirty deeds of governments.As such,their problem is they know too many secrets,and their employers cannot trust them completely. All this may be true,but i think its exaggerated in this movie.Secret agents are probably expendable like any soldier,because they are basically soldiers,but i doubt there isn't some code of operation in this world that they can rely on. ____________SPOILERS_________________In this movie its almost as if their main enemy is their employer.I very much doubt this to be true. As far as realism goes,its not that realistic either.The truth is these kind of operations are totally unglamorous and the idea is just to get the job done.I doubt anyone would book these people in a luxury hotel and give them to drive a luxury car.They would probably operate directly from some boat and nobody would even get to see them at all.So,as a movie its still mostly glamorous fantasy and having Monica Bellucci in it helps very much to this end.I enjoyed it,and i don't think its very much different than Hollywood,with just a touch of French style.

1-It's a spy movie. 2-It's not a James Bond.Follow a team of cold-blooded, adrenaline-addicted of french secret agents on what seems to be a "simple" fire and forget mission. Forget about sub cars, laser pens and kinky secret bases, this one is more about living a spy life, stuck in what smells like a "rainbow warrior" secret op. Frederic Schoendorffer and his crew made an impressive work on showing the pressure upon the characters, their loneliness and the void of their lives. A really clever choice is made whenever it comes to action : what they show us is not another dragon-ballish ballet, but short scenes that just tell that these people know what they're doing. There are lots of details, not the usual visible evidences that lead to colonel Mustard, and the real name of the game is planning. Get all that wrapped in a strong technical treatment (filming, editing and the sound work!) and you've got a movie that's not your usual popcorn spy flick but a real reflexion about what drools in the shadow of politics.

I've expected to have a different look from the French film industry to a spy trivia rather than imitating the American flavor. Whatever you do, imitation is an imitation and you can't get rid of that.Although the scenario has some potential, it seems they've missed the point and got bored in the story telling. Monica Bellucci is a really beautiful and talented actress whom I admire, but she got lost in the movie with the same dull look and it seems she didn't like her role too... The best casting is Vincent Cassel and he's probably the only one who took it seriously. The chief staff of the secret missions are too light to be described as bosses. The action scenes are rare and not so devastating. The camera use is fine though.If you have some spare time, you may enjoy the film, but don't expect too much of it. 6 out of 10.

Frederic Schoendorffer directed 4 years ago a great serial killer movie with a realistic point of view, "Scenes de crimes". And now he does it all over again with "Agents secrets", a sharp, always surprising look at the world of spies. Like, a James Bond movie directed by Ken Loach (well, sort of). Of course, when you decide to take a movie genre and break all its rules one by one, it helps to have two major movie stars by your side. Our American friends may not realize how big Vincent Cassell and Monica Bellucci are in France. They're, like, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, only more rebellious and real and glamorous and daring and hip. When you look at their respective filmographies, you know for sure that "Agents secrets" won't be a "Troy" or a "Along Came Polly" (though I do respect and love Brad and Jennifer, their career moves are sometimes, well, surprising). Now, Vincent and Monica are a real life couple and they do not play a couple in "Agents secrets", but two spies who pretend to be a couple on a mission that will go awfully wrong. Don't expect too many visual effects here : the suspense is intensely psychological and the cast does deliver, even though the screenplay sometimes doesn't (to be honest, the story is not always clear). When I saw the movie, most people in the audience were very angry by its ending. Without giving it away, I can tell you it is daring : the director wanted to make a movie about the extraordinary life of ordinary people who have no choice, once they've chosen such a lifestyle, but to live this way till they die. Their whole life is a mission, and it has no end.