To me, this movie is perfection.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Carla is a partially deaf woman who works in an office at a real estate firm in Paris. I was a bit unsure as to whether I found Carla to be wholly believable. She's one of those lonely hearts who somehow is sexually repressed. Her lack of confidence is explained by her handicap as well as constantly being made fun of by her co-workers. She is so stressed out that she ends up fainting on the job, which leads her boss (who unlike the intolerant co-workers) offers to hire an assistant for her. The arrival of the assistant, Paul, a parolee, is the film's inciting incident.Carla begins her Act 2 journey tied to Paul, who makes it quite clear that office work just isn't his 'thing'. Carla at first plays hard to get with bad boy Paul due to that sexual repression. Even if you buy the idea that no-so-bad-looking Carla is clueless when it comes to men, she has no guilt feelings about moving up in the office hierarchy. Ironically, it's not the amoral Paul who urges her to come up with the idea of stealing a co-worker's file, leading to the co-worker's resignation--it's actually Carla herself! As a result, mousy little Carla is promoted from secretary to project manager. After Carla finds Paul a place to stay, an apartment under construction, owned by her firm—she makes it clear that she no longer has any fear of the fledging sociopath when boldly stating to him: "You owe me".While Vincent Cassell is fairly convincing as Paul, the character could have used a bit more humor. He just was a little too one-note for me, although Cassell does well in establishing Paul as truly menacing. The rest of 'Read my lips' chronicles Carla's defection to the 'dark side' as she transforms herself into the amoral counterpart of her bad boy love interest. Carla's transformation takes place gradually—she puts on a sexy outfit but almost gets herself raped outside a nightclub, only to be saved by Paul who is now beginning to show a 'sensitive' side. Now it's Carla's turn to pay Paul back for his 'good deed' and agrees to hang out on a rooftop, clutching a pair of binoculars, and attempting to read the lips of Paul's new boss, Marchand, and his sleazy associates, so that Paul may discover if they're plotting a crime, which ultimately might give him a chance to rip them off.While the whole idea that Carla is actually able to read the lips of people through binoculars seems a bit dubious, I was willing to suspend my disbelief with the hope that the second half of Act 2, your basic caper story, picked up. Some of it's clever, as a plane ticket apparently is the Macguffin here, with Carla breaking into Marchand's apartment and planting the ticket inside his coat—thus leading his associates to believe that Marchand has double crossed them, stealing their money and then apparently buying the ticket with plans to leave the country. As it turns out, it's Carla and Paul who have pulled off the heist and leave Marchand holding the proverbial bag. Not all of it's clear as Marchand and company attack each other off screen and we never get to learn who exactly is killed and who survives.The film's denouement is a big letdown as it becomes clear that director Jacques Audiard's sympathies lie more with the criminal element than with a law abiding citizenry. At first one wonders if Audiard is merely presenting a film noir-like tale of an amoral couple 'getting away' with a crime without being punished. That works in a film like 'Chinatown', since the film's scenarists are not making a statement, approving of the amoral characters' behavior but merely chronicling a sordid verisimilitude. In 'Read my Lips', however, Audiard's 'Carla and Paul' have become the French version of 'Bonnie and Clyde'.Carla finally casts off her sexual aversions and gets down with the bad boy at film's end. She's now united with Paul in flipping the bird at respectable society (remember Audiard feels that Carla is justified in her rebellion as the so-called 'respectable' members of society are the very people who made fun of her in the office because of her disability). Despite committing a crime, Audiard doesn't see this as such as bad thing, since after all, the victims here are much more unsavory than Carla and Paul (but do Carla and Paul really come off as completely untainted? I do seem to recall that Marchand's wife is unfairly used by Carla in this scheme, and is left at scene of the crime to face the wrath of either a betrayed husband or his vengeful partners in crime. Not very noble of either one of them!).For those who don't understand why the parole officer appears in this film, I believe I can explain it. For Director Audiard, Paul's Parole Officer is the key to explaining the film's theme. All along, we're led to believe that the Parole Officer represents the good part of society—he's more like a social worker trying to help Paul (unlike the unmentionables who made fun of Carla back at the office). But when Paul and Carla 'run into' Paul at the film's climax, it's the Parole Office who is being led away by the police for killing his wife (in an apparent mercy killing). So now the ultimate symbol of the law abiding citizenry is an apparent murderer and the amoral protagonists (lonely heart Carla transformed into bad girl who joins already bad boy Paul) are actually charming waifs who have committed a wholly justifiable robbery.One can only conclude that 'Read My Lips' ultimately devolves into a 'feel good' fairy tale of amoral criminals, whom Director Audiard clearly wants us to root for. You might be bewitched by Carla's transformation or the mechanics of Paul's heist scheme, but ultimately there's nothing admirable about the protagonists' sordid machinations.

This movie just pulls you so deeply into the two main characters. I popped it into my laptop without even reading the cover (let alone reviews) and was intrigued for two solid hours. Two lost ships from two different worlds collide. The sexual tension that brews between a secretary and a criminal is almost palpable even without hardly any physical contact. Toward the end I couldn't decide which I wanted more: Our hero and heroine to pull off their caper or simply consummate their passion. RML could've done without a curious subplot and a traditional 100 minutes would have been plenty. I'm nitpicking though. After a series of Netflix, Blockbuster and local library duds this movie restored my faith in great film making.

I must admit that I had my doubts about this movie before I was going to watch it. The main reason for that is because it was compared to a Hitchcock movie. I've seen several movies that were said to be inspired by Hitchcock or that could have been made by the 'Master of Suspense' himself, but so far I haven't seen any of these movie that would be able to stand the test of time. In my opinion Hitchcock has become a household name which is too easily used to promote some (cheap) thrillers, but on the other hand I must admit that I was intrigued by it because this is a European movie. Normally it's the big Hollywood studios who like to abuse Hitchcock's name if that can raise their income. But this movie was made in one of the most chauvinistic European countries ever and I'm sure that most French would rather drop dead than to admit that their movies have been inspired by an Englishman. That's why I decided to give this movie a try and I must say that I'm glad that I did."Sur mes lèvres" or "Read my Lips" as it is called in English, tells the story of a young secretary named Carla. She is a hardworking and loyal employee, but has never been very appreciated by her colleagues. That has much to do with the fact that she suffers from a hearing deficiency, which has denied her to climb up on the hierarchical ladder of the company. But when she is allowed to hire a trainee that can work for her, all this is about to change. Paul Angeli is a 25 year old and completely unskilled ex-convict. The man is a thief, but Carla gives him a chance and covers for him when needed. She hopes to teach him what a regular life should look like, but at the same time he drags her with him in his old life...Since I still believe that the name Hitchcock is used too often to describe a very good thriller - which this movie definitely is - I will not make any comparisons between Hitchcock and Jacques Audiard's directing. Fact is that the man has done a really good job with this movie. I hadn't heard of him before, but it is true that he knows how to build up suspense and how to keep you interested from the beginning until the end. That also has a lot to do with the very fine and original story of course. I doubt if there is someone in Hollywood who has ever come up with the idea of using a handicapped woman in a powerful role, instead of making her the helpless subject of an abusive husband (you know, the typical TV-movie story).Also worth noticing is the acting in this movie. Vincent Cassel is quite famous, but Emmanuelle Devos was a complete mystery to me. There is absolutely nothing glamorous about their roles, but they both did an excellent job with their characters, making them feel very believable and realistic. Paul could have been the average tough guy right out of jail and Carla the typically helpless woman, but thanks to their performances, you really believe that these are two strong people who both have had some bad luck in life but who will make the best out of it together.All in all this is a powerful movie with a very fine script and some excellent acting. Despite the fact that I had my doubts about it, I've soon become one of its greatest admirers. I give this movie an 8/10. Don't hesitate to give it a try.

I watched this movie over the span of two days. The whole day after watching the first part, I was distracted by recollections of the imagery and just basic feel of the movie and couldn't wait to see the rest. It was so refreshing to see a movie with a captivating plot and sensuality without excessive sexuality. The directing and editing tied everything together wonderfully. Definitely a nail-biter towards the end and fast-paced enough to keep one interested but not so much so that it leaves one confused. I can't think of anything negative to say about it. If only they made movies this good in America these days.....