Close Enemies is a gritty French drama directed by David Oelhoffen [the man behind the Viggo Mortensen-starring film Far from Men (2014)] and starring the always consistent Matthias Shoenaerts [Rust and Bone (2012), A Little Chaos (2014)] and Reda Kateb [Zero Dark Thirty (2012), A Prophet (2009)]. The film follows two men who have grown in the same bad Parisian neighbourhood but have chosen to lead quite different lives.
Manuel (Shoenaerts) belongs to a gang whose members seem rather close and treat each other like family. On the other hand Driss (Kateb) has chosen the life of a policeman but gives the impression of always being in a dilemma; as if he stands between two worlds that collide and he does not know whose side to take. The two men cross roads when a well-organised ambush takes out some of Manuel's partners. Manuel manages to escape on time; however he not only has to be careful not to be targeted once again by the people who attacked his gang, but he also needs to persuade his own people that he was not the one who orchestrated the incident. For this, he collaborates with Driss who, himself, wants to find the attackers.
Close Enemies is a film that depends on its leads for the most part and not so much on the story of who's done it. But, even though this is the case, the two characters do not get to meet often enough throughout the story. Their shared moments are rare and far-between, something that feels like a missed opportunity. The film is mainly the parallel survival tales of the two men and even though their personal stories are what truly matters, the character exposition we get is unevenly shy for a cop drama such as this.
It is true that the film and its various twists and turns may seem quite familiar and something that an experienced viewer has seen before but in fact, despite its flaws, Close Enemies grabs your attention and keeps you at the edge of your seat till the very end.
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