This is a muddled affair even though it begins well enough with a disturbing night scene ,when Luc sneaks into his father's house to be confronted with two strange cops ;part political thriller ,part psychological drama,"Alissa " loses on both counts : the father /son relationship could have been absorbing ,it's only skimmed over ; the political side remains vague , and fails totally to convince.

Yvon Attal gives a listless limp performance of a sluggish person who can enter any place he wants and leave it unharmed ; he seems to be at odds with his wealthy dad ,an editor ,but he remains passive even in his scene with the Russian corrupt and criminal cop (Russian actor Oleg Yankvovskiy effortlessly blows him off the screen).

The movie seems to take off during the press conference but it takes a woman to enliven things ,dad being as inexpressive as sonny; it was nonetheless a good idea to show an unscrupulous editor protecting a former criminal from the Eastern bloc ,and a Russian lawyer searching for justice.

The score is rather enjoyable,with Russian accents,but the music is sometimes intrusive,nay pompous ;Luc seems to walk across the whole thing like a sleepwalker and his female partner is hardly better.