esrosedotblog

I will put my cards on the table.

I have a serious crush on Gaspard Ulliel.(Ooo-lay not too far from oo la la)

So, what else to do? I ordered all his films available on Netflix.

The result is to discover that he is in some great movies and is a considerable force as an actor.

I saw him first last week in Strayed and realize that I had already seen him in The Princess of Montpensier.

The next film I have seen was today's movie

Ultimate Heist (2009)

This is the Netflix title but it has also been seen as The Dead List and the french Le premier cercle, meaning sort of "The First Circle". Perhaps slang for heist or something like it.

Fact is, the film has not been released in the US and is only limited in the UK.

That all said, getting to the film, Gaspard plays the good/bad son of an Armenian gang kingpin. This has some meaning in that, in Europe, the Armenian gangs get cut some slack because they are viewed in the light of the Armenian genocide of the Turks. Hence, a good/bad situation where we root for the bad guy because he wants to be good.

The reason he wants to do this seems more rooted in his obsession with a physical therapist come to his Dad's house to take care of his Grandma.

There are somewhat complicated family things but this film is not the cheesy flick that is seems to be set up for. It is a very good family loyalty drama set with the background of a big heist to end all heists.

Yes you have seen this film before and so have I but it did not have Gaspard in it. Nor did it probably have Jean Reno as the father. I say probably because Reno is made for the bad guy hero and, in fact, I imagine he was able to tell Ulliel a thing or two while on breaks from the filming.

A very tight film package here, well directed and luxuriously photographed where the outcomes to a clever scheme remain uncertain until the very end.

My impression is that Ulliel plays a wide variety of roles in films that he attracts to himself or chooses to showcase his considerable talent as an actor and a charisma that is so strong it transcends genre. He has played gay men, we will see him do that, and he is the hero of quite a few gay bloggers who write about film. It is helpful for him that he has his clothes off in the first ten minutes of most of the films I have seen and he is a considerable hunk.

I know the chances of this attracting you might be slim if you are straight and male. But perhaps not. He is a pretty good action hero. They all take their shirts off fast and always have. You love it too.

We will see more of him tomorrow and on for five films I think. A good sample of some of the films he has made.

This one is a 3 out of Netflix5. I am very glad I saw it and look forward to whatever else on offer.

Labels: films, hunks