Cold and intellectual philosophical exposé of how European capitalism developed out of fascism through a mystery story of "corporate soldiers" intrigue.
Heartbeat Detector (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 25
Fresh: 19
Rotten:6
Average Rating: 6.5/10
Consensus: Gripping and provocative psychological thriller about corporate responsibility remains tense throughout and despite its long running time.
Theatrical Release:Mar 14, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: This corporate thriller from France follows company psychologist Simon Kessler (Mathieu Amalric, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY) who is assigned with investigating a CEO who executives fear is... This corporate thriller from France follows company psychologist Simon Kessler (Mathieu Amalric, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY) who is assigned with investigating a CEO who executives fear is growing mentally unstable. While Kessler tries to get close to his subject, the CEO turns the tables on his interlocutor, revealing devastating company secrets that throw Kessler's life into turmoil. The mysteries only deepen as murder and blackmail are thrown into this dark mix. [More]
Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Michael Lonsdale, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Lou Castel
Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Michael Lonsdale, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Lou Castel, Laetitia Spigarelli, Valerie Dreville, Delphine Chuillot, Edith Scob
Director: Nicolas Klotz
Director: Nicolas Klotz
Producer: Sophie Dulac, Michel Zana
Composer: Syd Matters
Studio: New Yorker Films
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Reviews for Heartbeat Detector
There's no killer revelation, just a graceful telescoping of past into present and a steadily accumulating dread.
Heartbeat Detector works on so many levels at once that its power is difficult to capture.
As driven by linguistics and euphemism as this film is, it's also a slippery and wonderfully acted drama%u2014Michael Clayton with a far more troubling moral landscape.
A searing indictment of corporate responsibility that will intrigue conspiracy theorists.
An intriguing thriller with strong performances and a dense, complex script.
A confronting examination of human evil in all its enduring banality, Heartbeat Detector takes a crooked path towards its bid for some straight talking.
Though it is in part a stinging commentary on the soullessness of the corporate suit, Nicolas Klotz's film is extremely slow to get on track.
Heartbeat Detector earns its points, arriving at a potent conclusion with a stealth and meticulousness that knocks the wind out of you.
Heartbeat Detector doesn't really unfold; when it doesn't drag, it lurches about in fits and starts
Klotz walks a perilous tightrope between profundity and pretension without ever tipping into the chasm.
Director Nicolas Klotz combines an intriguing story with a distinctive ambiance that will appeal to an audience beyond French film aficionados.
A chilling corporate thriller with an intriguing mystery on the surface and a deeply troubling idea at its dark core.
Where Michael Clayton assumed the viewers’ utter naïveté regarding corporate malfeasance, Heartbeat Detector’s corrosive look at business culture rests on too overdetermined -- and at times outlandish -- a premise.
Intriguing, frustrating, exasperating -- the French film Heartbeat Detector succeeds best as a provocation.
It seems that the old dictum of never building a house on an ancient Indian burial ground goes double, if not triple, for corporations.
Director Nicholas Klotz's subtle suspense film Heartbeat Detector comes across like a hybrid of Heart Of Darkness and Michael Clayton, digging into the roots of a psychosis affecting a veteran corporate lackey.
It's a thin line between 20th-century Nazism and 21st-century corporate culture in Heartbeat Detector, Nicolas Klotz's rewardingly chilly psychological thriller.
Latest News for Heartbeat Detector
July 21, 2008:
A fatally-flawed cinematic flatliner that was dead on arrival. ![]()
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March 13, 2008:
Critics Consensus: Who's Better, Who's Best; Never Goes Down; Guess Doomsday's Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've Seussian silliness (Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, starring Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell), mixed martial arts madness (Never Back Down, starring... More...
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