There's something reassuringly old-fashioned about this visceral thriller, which could easily have been made in the 1970s with Alain Delon or Jean-Paul Belmondo playing the devoted husband who decides to spring his wife from prison after she is falsely accused of murder. The underrated Vincent Lindon exudes macho injustice as the Parisian teacher encountering a variety of lowlifes in plotting Diane Kruger's audacious escape. Debuting director Fred Cavayé hurtles Alain Duplantier's camera through bruising action sequences that contrast with more cerebral moments (that recall Robert Bresson's rigorous studies of criminal ingenuity in A Man Escaped and Pickpocket). The storyline does occasionally require a suspension of disbelief, and Cavayé might have done without the flashback suggesting Kruger's innocence, as Lindon's crusade is all the more heroic for its blind faith and muddle-headed righteousness. Nevertheless, this makes for consistently slick and often gripping entertainment.

Lisa and Julien are married and lead a happy uneventful life with their son Oscar. But their life radically changes one morning, when the police comes to arrest Lisa on murder charges. She's sentenced to 20 years of prison. Convinced of his wife's innocence, Julien decides to act. How far will he be willing to go for her?