A humanitarian doctor in Paris works as a "night doctor" (a dispatcher sends him on home visits to patient overnight to provide urgent care). Meanwhile he moonlights writing Subutex scrips for desperate addicts, providing harm reduction. This puts him in contact with a criminal underworld, and moral and ethical quandaries begin to mount. All done over the course of night.
Plot summary
Mikael is doctor on night call. It's a vocation. Between two patient-visits in slum areas, he cares for those whom no one else wants to see: the drug addicts, the homeless - He rubs shoulders with destitution. His life is in shambles. Especially when it comes to his pharmacist cousin who makes him write false prescriptions for Subutex. Overnight, he decides to get out of drug trafficking and rebuild his life. But there will be a heavy price to pay.
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FRENCH ( A+ Movie) My Ratings 8.5/10
Simply powerful
Vincent Macaigne gives here one, if not, of his best performances ever. So realistic and dark, gloomy and entertaining, where characters seem so real. French movie style at its damn peak. Acting at the top, so the directing and screenplay too. Film noir? Hmmm, at least a noir drama, but there is no criminal element here, nor real. A few years ago, there was MEDECIN DE CAMPAGNE, starring François Cluzet, it was far less downbeat but not less interesting. The settings were not the same and so the characters. It could have been a kind of TAXI DRIVER but on the night doctor fashion instead of cab. It explores the routine burden of a physician, as it also could be for a beat cop, a fireman, with of course the unavoidable Paris by night atmosphere. Please don't miss it.
Blend of noir & dramatics
The film is a very well made visually, it sets the right mood from the first frame. The protagonist has been etched to the possible extent and I was able to empathise with the turmoil he was going through.
The conflicts are not larger than life rather mundane and that's what make the characters appear real. Coming back to the protagonist who is a leading a mediocre life and is challenged to sort things right professionally & personally gets into a space where he behaves as confused as one would be and that's what hooked me to this plot.
The flip side of dramatising the subplots was a disappointment and that does not gel with the overall treatment, even the climax looked forced which could have possibly forced the writers to gracefully close all plot points.
The supporting characters are half baked, and that's not a bigger concern, as I was totally invested in the protagonist and his mundane yet perplexed life.
It would have been better if the film ended with protagonist still figuring out his ways to steer a balance in his personal & professional journey.
Nevertheless, one can definitely give it a try!