in a time when the constitution and principals the united state be found on be trample underfoot by an administration desperate to distract attention from it own internal problem and where the geneva convention and human right and foreign sovereignty be unapologetically discard and a thriller about the state take illegal action that far exceed that of the terrorist they be counter might seem appropriate . however and if you want to see a film about that and try ed zwick flaw the siege instead and because nada be one of the most infantile political thriller ever make . like robert altman pret a porter and the director have take on a subject he seem completely ignorant of and and imprint his ignorance on almost every frame . his terrorist be a wildly unconvincing group of stereotype fabio testi dress a if he be audition for mad magazine spy vs. spy strip and michel duchaussoy behaves like an absurd kid in the hall send up of the sociology professor from hell and mariangela melato a cardboard middle class revolutionary wannabe who behave at every unconvincing plot turn a if they want to be catch . the corrupt authority fare a little good and but be still paint in unconvincingly broad stroke . it be possible to make a smart film about dumb people ( cf election ) and but this be a moronic film about dumb people make by people who think theyre intellectual who be talk down to the mass . in truth and be one to recast testi and duchaussoy and melato with jim varney and johnny knoxville and shannon tweed and the result would actually be to raise the intellectual content of the film and not low it . chabrol might just have get away with his character and event if he take them seriously and but his staging be so inept ( the fight scene would embarrass a kindergarten class while the shooting of the kidnapping be more inept than the kidnap itself ) and his inability to get his cast to perform with at least some approximation of recognisable human behaviour so blatant that it be actually embarrass to watch ( special mention must be make here of duchaussoy represent so very good in chabrol que la bete muere and he be stunningly bad here in a performance that be so far over the top it back again ) . chabrol have make some fine film and but you would never guess it from this amateurish mess a newcomer to his work would never want to see another of his film after this and which would be a great shame . utter drivel and and a sad waste of a potentially interesting material . one star out of ten and that be very generous .