Rust and Bone (2012)

Ali: Did you have a lot of guys?
Stephanie: Before? I was with Simon.
Ali: Is that all?
Stephanie: No, there were others. But not many. I was....I liked it when men looked at me. I liked to feel seductive. That I excited them. Later it bored me, actually. 
Ali: And now?
Stephanie: Nothing. I forgot what it looks like.

Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) works different jobs to make ends meet, and he has just arrived from Belgium at his sister's place in France when he is entrusted with the responsibility of taking care of his five year-old son. He takes up a job as a bouncer at a night club, The Annexe, where he meets Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) and helps her out of a scuffle with a guy.

Stephanie is a Orca trainer at the Sea World and she also lives with her boyfriend, Simon. After the incident at the night club, Ali drives her home safe and invites himself to her place with the pretext of needing ice for his hands after the scuffle. As Simon is not too amused, Ali leaves his number with Stephanie for anytime she might need him in the future. A few months pass, and Stephanie meets with a tragic accident which leaves her crippled and alone. As she fights to get out of her depression and thoughts of suicide, she finally gives Ali a call. In the meantime, Ali has moved from his job at the night club to security at a supermarket and also helps a friend in fitting illegal surveillance cameras in the supermarkets than can provide the managers a reason to fire people.

When they meet again, Ali takes her out back into the world and helps her come to terms with her condition. When Stephanie confides in him about her unfulfilled sexual desires, Ali makes himself available on the condition of being "OP" or operational, without having any emotional attachments. While Stephanie is slowly feeling attracted to Ali, Ali seems completely oblivious to it and he couldn't care less about who he sleeps with. Ali also takes up underground fights for money and seems to be doing pretty well at it while Stephanie follows him around for his fights. For a woman, she seems very understanding towards his vocation. When things start to look steady between them, a few events follow that would test their relationship.

Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, The Beat that my Heart Skipped) delivers another brilliant story in the form of a romance and as usual, builds the characters with great detail. Schoenaert portrays the bull-headed Ali pretty well that will actually make you feel like wanting to put a little bit of sense in Ali's head. Marion Cotillard also gives an award-winning performance. Though, like always with Audiard's movies, you'll need a little patience with the pace, which is well worth it.

Rating: 7.5/10