Willing to risk it all to be together
At the start of director Michaël Roskam’s Belgian romance “Racer and the Jailbird,” slick, handsome thief Gigi (Matthias Schoenaerts) becomes smitten with a sexy race car driver, Bibi (Adèle Exarchopoulos).
The two fall immediately into an affair so passionate and all-consuming that at first she barely cares that he’s hedging about what he does for a living.
Co-written by Roskam with Noé Debré and frequent Jacques Audiard collaborator Thomas Bidegain, “Racer and the Jailbird” is divided into three sections.
In the first, Gigi’s infatuation with Bibi inadvertently leads to him getting thrown in prison. In the second, the couple struggles as they make plans for a life after incarceration.
The overwrought narrative structure and the situation it builds to are both a bit heavy-footed for a film that in its first hour has more pep. That said, “Racer and the Jailbird” remains absorbing, thanks primarily to the leads, who are both almost frighteningly believable as lovers willing to risk everything to stay together.
Ultimately, the story’s structured like a grand theatrical tragedy for a reason. Indeed, it takes its time to give a better sense of what Gigi and Bibi feel bound to — so we understand everything they overcome to keep returning to each other’s arms. “Racer and the Jailbird.” In French with English subtitles. Rated: R, for some strong sexuality, nudity, violence and for language. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes. Playing: Laemmle Playhouse 7, Pasadena.