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Unfortunately Nathalie is the only bread-winner since both Eric and Bruno are stuck in the hole of having neither jobs nor the enthusiasm to look for them. This frugal situation conflicts somewhat with Eric's dream of emigrating to the States and opening a chain of pret-a-porter shops, or maybe a restaurant, or perhaps something else entirely! Whatever his ambition is it somehow becomes the dream for both Nathalie and Bruno as well, which leaves the acquisition of funds as the only hurdle. This sleepy state becomes perturbed when a friend of Eric's repays his $350 debt -- not with money but with a hand-gun. Although decision seems too strong a word, Eric and Bruno decide to embark on a life of crime with the aim of amassing 10 million francs.
The direction of this new life is fairly uncertain until Eric stumbles across Nathalie's address book, seemingly the key to riches, with notations for all of her middle-aged flirtations. All they need is for Nathalie to take the victim back to his flat, then Eric and Bruno can burst in with guns waving and empty the safe. Simple, no? Unfortunately not since the victim either has friends coming over, hi-tech video cameras or just a lot of luck -- until one day. This time everything runs smoothly, until the small-time lawyer lying bound on the floor tells them that he has no safe. In a downward spiral of stupidity the result is murder and a few thousand francs, hardly worth it really.
From here the pressure mounts as their plans continue to fail and dreams fail to materialise, although we barely care as they hardly deserve to succeed. Finally, of course, another victim succumbs with predictable results, leaving the three with a pile of early Christmas presents. Are we really surprised when the Police pick up Nathalie a few days later? Not really considering that she's wearing the stolen jewellery! The bloodied jeans from the first killing, still soaking in the bidet, reinforce the stupidity which has taken them from nowhere, to nowhere, with nothing to show for it.
This results in a curiously flat film with none of the characters having the ability to move us emotionally. Their actions contain so little meaning that it's hard to decide why they do anything, although it's interesting to see how they slide down the inevitable slope. The script contains some good points but it's a shame that more depth wasn't added with the parents of both Nathalie and Eric, while Bruno is almost a clone of Eric without independent thought. The soundtrack has some good incidental music, with tracks from Peter Gabriel and US3, although it doesn't play a fundamental role.
In summary, L'Appāt is a watchable study of three almost-lovers inching away from life due to their own stupidity and apathy. The conclusion is predictable but their route takes some interesting turns.
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