The Chameleon (film)
| The Chameleon | |
|---|---|
 French Theatrical Poster | |
| Directed by | Jean-Paul Salomé |
| Produced by | Ram Bergma Pierre Kubel Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar William O. Perkins III Cooper Richey |
| Written by | Natalie Carter |
| Starring | Marc-André Grondin Famke Janssen Ellen Barkin |
| Music by | Bruno Coulais |
| Studio | Gordon Street Pictures |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | Canada France United States |
| Language | English French |
The Chameleon is a 2010 film directed by Jean-Paul Salomé. The screenplay by Natalie Carter is based upon the true story of Frédéric Bourdin who impersonated a missing child named Nicholas Barclay in San Antonio, Texas, in the 1990s. Much of the true story was incorporated into the film although the years have been altered and the location was moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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Plot [edit]
A young man (Marc-André Grondin) in Spain shaves off all his body hair and turns himself in to the police. The man claims to be a 16 year old boy from Louisiana named Nicholas Mark Randall, who had been missing for four years. His story is that he was kidnapped by a child prostitution ring in France who physically altered his appearance, including changing his eye color.
He is reunited with his family who immediately have their suspicions regarding his story. His mother (Ellen Barkin) and half brother Brendan (Nick Stahl) do not seem to accept him, and many questions are open regarding whether this man could in fact be their lost family member, considering he does not look anything like the boy who left and now talks with a French accent. His sister Kathy (Emilie de Ravin) accepts his story without hesitation and eventually so does his possible mother.
F.B.I. Agent Jennifer Johnson (Famke Janssen) strongly suspects that he is lying because she has had extensive experiences with people lying to her, including a man who was a child murderer whom she had dated. Meanwhile, his story starts to unravel and the true story of what happened to Nicholas starts to emerge.
Cast [edit]
- Marc-André Grondin as Frederic Fortin / Nicholas Mark Randall
- Famke Janssen as F.B.I. Agent Jennifer Johnson
- Ellen Barkin as Kimberly Miller
- Emilie de Ravin as Kathy Jansen
- Tory Kittles as Dan Price
- Brian Geraghty as Brian Jansen
- Nick Stahl as Brendan Kerrigan
Premiere [edit]
The film premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival in the United States.[1]
Critical reception [edit]
The film received mostly mixed to negative reviews from major critics. The website metacritic.com gave the film a 41 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[2] Stephen Holden of The New York Times said the film barely addresses the central issue of Nicholas being an imposter, except at the film's "unsatisfying, sentimental conclusion.[3] Aaron Hillis of The Village Voice said the film's psychological, emotional, and moral implications are not explored.[4]
References [edit]
- ^ "2010 Film Guide – Chameleon". Tribeca Film. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
- ^ "Critic Reviews for The Chameleon at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (2011-07-14). "‘The Chameleon’ Directed by Jean-Paul Salomé - Review - NYTimes.com". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
- ^ Aaron Hillis (2011-07-13). "What a Tease: Foreshadowing to the Extreme in The Chameleon – Page 1 – Movies – New York". Village Voice. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
External links [edit]
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