The Ax

Bruno (José Garcia) has all what man can have a loving wife, two straight, healthy teenage kids and a rewarding career as an middle manager at a paper company. Life couldn't be much better, but it sure could get a whole lot worse, and it does when a corporate decision is made to relocate the company to Romania. Initially Bruno sees the freedom and large redundancy payout as empowering, but after two years of job hunting he is becoming worn down. His wife Marlene (Karin Viard) is juggling two part-time jobs and the family unit is becoming strained under financial pressures. Bruno hatches a plan to create a vacancy that will suit his qualifications down to the letter. But, in order to guarantee selection he must eliminate the competition as well. He places a bogus advert in the local press and gleans important info regarding his main rivals with a view to taking them out, one by one. His situation is becoming more desperate, but does Bruno have the courage to match his convictions? Director of this engaging black comedy, Gosta-Gavras, uses his typical style of treading a fine line between stylish noir, comedic ineptitude and scathing social satire and this entertaining thriller provides impressive performances, especially from the trained Bruno´s family. (official distributor synopsis)