Time Out (2002)

Absorbing psychological study of a man who can't bring himself to admit to his family that he's been fired from his job, preferring instead to invent an elaborate lie involving the UN and Switzerland. Director Laurent Cantet's pacing is slow but well-measured (a little too slow for some, admittedly), and he gets a tremendous performance out of journeyman actor Aurelien Recoing. A contemplative and occasionally sad look at the displacement of the modern worker, and well worth finding.

Grade: B+