With a Friend Like Harry<\/em> (2000) is in essence a thriller, but it chills with the creeping dread of a horror film. This tightly-plotted, slightly surreal French production has unfortunately slipped gently into obscurity. Twenty years after its release, director <\/a>Dominik Moll\u2019s quietly chilling flick deserves another look. In a world where the wealthy seem increasingly determined to grab power as much as resources, this story of a man of means who uses his wealth to control others seems especially apt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it was released in 2000, With a Friend Like Harry<\/em> was critically acclaimed and a festival darling. Along with several nominations and wins from foreign film organizations, it was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival; at France\u2019s C\u00e9sar Awards, it won best actor (for leading man Sergi L\u00f3pez), director, sound, and editing out of nine nominations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Upon the film\u2019s release, critics noted the picture\u2019s Hitchockian influences. The combo of a supposed innocent and an obsessive psychopath does recall the dynamics of Strangers on a Train<\/em> (1950), based on Patricia Highsmith\u2019s novel, and the music has passages that recall the quieter moments of Bernard Herrmann\u2019s Psycho<\/em> (1960) score, or the swirling disorientation of his Vertigo<\/em> (1958) soundtrack. Harry\u2019s manipulative ways also mirror the seductive but uneasy lure of Highsmith\u2019s Tom Ripley character. And all of these apparent influences have plots which feature immoral acts committed in the name of pursuing wealth and the power it brings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n