Okay, so this won't work without spoilers and detailes so I will put most of it in spoiler tags.
Just something in general. How much Sid is in "Espion(s)"? Well, it was enough for me.
Okay, seriously, he really is an excellent addition to an excellent cast. I now know what was meant in the reviews I read when they said he is "seductive and dangerous". Especially in a scene at the end of the movie when he meets Claire in the lift. (It's really amazing what the man can do with his eyes.)
Something about the "language chaos"
: The first 20 minutes are French only, then we arrive at London and people start talking English - with French subtitles. You know how confusing that is?! And of course, Claire is French and Malik speaks french, too. So one second they are all sitting at a table talking English, next second they are talking French (if I'm not mistaken because Claire's husband wants to practise his French - aaargh), next second they are talking English again and next second Ulli is getting a headache.
But as I said I think it's possible to understand what is going on from just the English lines, so go, buy it.
Again, as I said, the actors are all excellent. Geraldine Pailhas is just wonderful in portraying a woman whose husband is more married with his company than with her. The "lovestory" between her and Vincent (Guillaume Canet - very charming and very convincing) is absolutely believable. Though it builds up. The first time they meet I thought it doesn't work with the two but it does in the end. I don't know in which order the scenes were filmed but it looks like both actors needed some time to fit into their characters. And through all of that you see Vincent grow. First he thinks this is just a game. Then he begins to realise it is real and begins to really love and care for that woman.
But from the beginning. The film is kind of split in two parts: The spy story and the love story. Of course, both are connected.
While trying to steal something from the suitcase of a Syrian "diplomat" Vincent and his friend find a perfume flacon which explodes (I don't know if that's a problem with the dvd but you almost get blinded by that that, so bright.) and kills his friend.
French intelligence wants to find out more but Vincent won't tell and is only "convinced" when someone tries to murder him with what looks like a chisel. This is really creepy since you see the murderer sneak up behind him before Vincent sees him. Quite a lot of things happening in just 20 minutes.
In London Vincent is suppose to seduce Claire, the wife of a business man who has connections to Syria.
This is where Sid's character Malik comes in - he is the "business partner". (I think he has about 5 or 6 scenes, everytime dressed in another of those what looks like horribly expensive suits. Very good looking if you don't mind me saying. 
) I'm not sure how to describe his character. He's almost elusive (right word?). There is a scene in a club when he says something like "I don't know any good people." And if you see his face while he is saying that...Did I say before that it's amazing what he can do with his eyes?
The story now switches between the Vincent and Claire story and the spy story. I think even if I think that all the characters are real, Claire is the "most real" of them. She's a mother who has lost custody of her children, she is not happy with her marriage and torn between Vincent and her husband. There is a scene when she learns all about the MI5 and Vincents involment and they promise her to get her children back to her when she works with them. Next scene we see her in a toy shop where she doesn't know what to buy because she obviously hasn't seen her children for a long time. It's so sad.
The spy story, in the meantime gets more thrilling when Vincent and his MI5 contact tail two different suspects. One of them is Fouad (Jamie Harding who should get more text next time). They catch him and question him. And all he's saying is "I do the same here as you." Which really left me puzzled. They didn't find anything suspicious in his back. So since he is talking to the MI5 people at that moment.....? I mean the film is called "Spi(es)". But I'm probably seeing more than there is. The other suspect is followed on a bus by Vincents MI5 contact Palmer and unfortunately he is the one with the bomb. So we have a bus blown up. I think they put that into the story not only to have something terrible happening but also to wake up Vincent who at this point still thinks it's a big game.
After that Vincent is on his own. He tries to rescue Claire since "someone" is after her husband who doesn't seem to want to smuggle liquid bombs anymore.
And here comes the big showdown. If you have read all this and think you have been spoiled enough than you should really stop now.
Claire's husband is blown up by another bomb. Vincent grabs a gun and makes Malik move down into the carpark. And what exactly happens down there I can't tell you. I read in an interview with Nicolas Saada that he deliberately abandoned all subtitles on that scene so that the audience can make up their own minds.
We see Vincent and Malik and then we see a car moving and people getting out of the car. And then we hear Malik and those people talking in something that is not English or French. I guess it's arab. We don't know what they are saying and then one of them shoots and Malik looks almost surprised, as if this was not planned. Vincents has a shooting duell with those people and than takes one of the bombs out of Maliks car (I guess it is Malik's car) and throws it at the other car and *boom*.
Vincents leaves Maliks dead body and goes back to the airport where he sees Claire through a window. They look at each other and that's it.
I really would like to discuss those last scenes with someone who has seen the film. I have not yet listened to the audio commentary by the director. Will do that tomorrow. Should be interesting.
Another interesting point is, sorry I didn't know where it fits, is that the Syrian ambassador is covering the terrorists by giving them diplomatic imunity.
). The characters are real the story is complex.
