''The Axe'' (US title: ''The Ax'') () is a 2005

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Costa-Gavras Konstantinos "Kostas" Gavras (; born 12 February 1933), known professionally as Costa-Gavras, is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for political films, such as the political thril ...

and starring José Garcia,

Karin Viard Karin Viard (; born 24 January 1966) is a French actress. She made her film debut in '' Tatie Danielle'' in 1990. She has appeared in films such as ''Delicatessen'', '' L'Emploi du temps'', ''Adultère, mode d'emploi'' and ''La parenthèse encha ...

, and

Olivier Gourmet Olivier Gourmet (born 22 July 1963) is a Belgium, Belgian actor. Gourmet was born in Namur. He won the Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival), Best Actor award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for his role in ''The Son (2002 film), Le Fils'' ...

. The film is an adaptation of the 1997 novel ''The Ax'' by

Donald E. Westlake Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer with more than one hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray int ...

, and follows the attempts by a laid-off employee to get back on his feet. He eventually becomes so desperate that he is prepared to kill his job competitors. The film is a co-production between France, Belgium and Spain.

Synopsis

The 39-year-old chemist Bruno Davert has been working at a paper mill for 15 years, improving products and saving money for the shareholders. One day, the company announces that it is forced to " downsize", so 600 staff are laid off and many of their jobs are instead outsourced to a company in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The result is a 16% increase in dividends to the company shareholders. Bruno was one of the 600 laid off, and two years later he has still not been able to find another job, in spite of numerous job applications. He has lost his self-esteem and his family has been forced to give up many of its accepted comforts, such as cable TV and the internet, although his wife has taken two part-time jobs in order to keep them afloat. Bruno concludes that there is too much competition in his sector for the few jobs available, and so in desperation he decides to literally eliminate his competitors, by killing those more qualified than him.

Main cast

* José Garcia as Bruno Davert *

as Marlène Davert * Geordy Monfils as Maxime Davert *

Christa Theret Christa may refer to: * Christa (given name), a female given name * Janusz Christa (1934–2008), Polish comics author * ''Swedish Fly Girls'', a 1971 film also known as ''Christa'' * 1015 Christa, an asteroid See also * Christ (disambiguation) * ...

as Betty Davert *

Ulrich Tukur Ulrich Tukur (born Ulrich Gerhard Scheurlen; 29 July 1957) is a German actor and musician. He is known for his roles in Michael Haneke, Michael Haneke's ''The White Ribbon'', Steven Soderbergh, Steven Soderbergh's ''Solaris (2002 film), Solaris' ...

as Gérard Hutchinson *

as Raymond Machefer * Yvon Back as Etienne Barnet *

Thierry Hancisse Thierry Hancisse (born 20 November 1962, in Liège) is a Belgian actor. His acting credits include '' Un soir au club'', ''The Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxfo ...

as Inspector Kesler * Olga Grumberg as Iris Thompson *

Catherine Salée Catherine Salée is a Belgian actress. Biography From 1991 to 1994, Catherine Salée took classes at the Royal Conservatory of Liège The Royal Conservatory of Liège (RCL) () is a historic conservatory in Liège, Belgium. It is one of four ...

as Lydia *

Yolande Moreau Yolande Moreau (born 27 February 1953) is a Belgian comedian, actress, film director and screenwriter. She has won three César Awards from four nominations. Career She made her cinematic debut with director Agnès Varda in two movies: Sept pi� ...

as Clerk *

Dieudonné Kabongo Dieudonné Kabongo (1950 – October 11, 2011) was a Congolese-born Belgian comedian, humorist, musician, and actor. Kabongo co-starred in the 2000 film, '' Lumumba'', portraying Godefroid Munongo. He was the first comedian of African descent ...

as Quinlan Longus

Critical reception

The movie was well received by the critics. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reports that 80% of five critics gave the film a positive review, for an average rating of 7.2 / 10.

References

External links

* 2005 films 2000s French films 2005 thriller films 2005 black comedy films French thriller films French satirical films Belgian thriller films Films directed by Costa Gavras French black comedy films Termination of employment in popular culture Films based on American novels Films based on works by Donald E. Westlake Belgian black comedy films Les Films du Fleuve films Films scored by Armand Amar 2000s Belgian films {{2000s-France-film-stub