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The Adversary

The Adversary

Mystery · Drama · Crime · 2002

Based on the 2000 book of the same name by Emmanuel Carrère, it is inspired by the real-life story of Jean-Claude Romand. L'Adversaire's protagonist Jean-Marc Faure (Auteuil) pursues an imaginary career as a doctor of medicine in a plot more closely based on Romand's life and Carrère's book than was Laurent Cantet's 2001 film L'Emploi du Temps. The film was nominated for a Palme d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

Movie details

The Adversary

2002 Mystery · Drama · Crime 2h 9m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

Based on the 2000 book of the same name by Emmanuel Carrère, it is inspired by the real-life story of Jean-Claude Romand. L'Adversaire's protagonist Jean-Marc Faure (Auteuil) pursues an imaginary career as a doctor of medicine in a plot more closely based on Romand's life and Carrère's book than was Laurent Cantet's 2001 film L'Emploi du Temps. The film was nominated for a Palme d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Adversary?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Nicole Garcia

Written by

Nicole Garcia · Frédéric Bélier-Garcia

Daniel Auteuil

Daniel Auteuil

Jean-Marc Faure

Géraldine Pailhas

Géraldine Pailhas

Christine Faure

François Cluzet

François Cluzet

Luc

François Berléand

François Berléand

Rémi

Emmanuelle Devos

Emmanuelle Devos

Marianne

A

Alice Fauvet

Alice

Martin Jobert

Martin Jobert

Vincent

Court is in session

Put The Adversary on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.