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'The Bridesmaid': Curious passion

Plant a tree, write a poem, make love to a person of the same sex and kill someone.

Those are the four tasks that remodeling salesman Philippe is told he must perform to prove his love in Claude Chabrol's compelling film of improbable attractions, The Bridesmaid.

First Run Features 'The Bridesmaid' B+ The verdict: Matters of the heart lead to irrationality in this curious psychological thriller from the masterful Chabrol. Director: Claude Chabrol Starring: Benoît Magimel, Laura Smet, Aurore Clément, Bernard Le Coq, Solène Bouton, Anna Mihalcea Run time: 110 minutes Release date: August 4, 2006 Language: French with English subtitles Rating: Not rated, but includes brief nudity, adult themes, sexual situations. See showtimes On the web Official movie site Rate 'The Bridesmaid' Go see it 50.00% 3 Make it a matinee 0.00% 0 Wait to rent 16.67% 1 Don't bother 33.33% 2

That Philippe (Benoît Magimel) does not run screaming for the hills when the eponymous Senta (Laura Smet) follows him home after his sister's wedding, eventually presenting him with this four-part ultimatum, is a measure of the passion she instills in him.

Magimel initially seems to be the most normal in a French family that includes a middle-aged mom looking for second-time-around happiness, his two younger sisters and a statue of a female head to which he grows abnormally attached.

Chabrol adapted The Bridesmaid from a story by British mystery writer Ruth Rendell, so if you feel like jumping to the conclusion that there will be a murder in there somewhere, go ahead and jump.

Chabrol often makes films about characters transformed by extreme circumstances — such as love — and The Bridesmaid certainly plays to his strengths.