"Wicker Park" is an absorbing romantic mystery about lost love, obsession and tangled relationships and the puzzle at the heart of its convoluted story is made more interesting by its non-linear narrative. Misunderstandings, coincidences and deception all play their parts in what takes place and its neat twists add enormously to the enjoyment of watching this rather intense and often unpredictable drama.

After living in New York City for a couple of years, advertising executive Matthew Simon (Josh Hartnett) returns to Chicago with his fiancee Rebecca (Jessica Pare) and attends a business lunch at Bellucci's restaurant ahead of a planned business trip to China. When he catches sight of a woman he believes is his ex-girlfriend Lisa (Diane Kruger),he immediately follows her and after failing to catch up with her, keeps a hotel key card that he finds in the phone booth that she's just vacated. After Rebecca waves him off at the airport, Matthew decides not to catch his plane and instead goes off in search of Lisa.

Lisa was the girl who, as well as being the love of Matthew's life, had left him heartbroken two years earlier when she'd disappeared without any explanation and had never contacted him since. Their relationship had started when he'd been working in a Chicago camera shop and fell in love with her at first sight. Matthew had initially stalked her for a while not realizing that she was aware of him and when their paths eventually crossed, it became clear that she was also attracted to him. Their relationship continued until Matthew was offered a more lucrative job in New York City and suggested that they relocate and move in together. Lisa agreed to meet him in Wicker Park to give him a decision but instead stood him up and left him completely puzzled and heartbroken by what she'd done.

The key card he'd found in the phone booth leads Matthew to a room in "The Drake" hotel where he discovers some further clues that lead him to what he believes is Lisa's apartment. When he breaks in, he meets another young woman who's also called Lisa. She tells him that she'd stayed at "The Drake" to avoid a man who was stalking her and explaining that she's terrified of him, says that she'd feel a lot more at ease if Matthew could stay the night with her. He agrees to this and is subsequently seduced by the apparently grateful Lisa.

One night, Matthew's best friend Luke (Matthew Lillard),insists on taking him to see a Shakespearean play in which his girlfriend Alex (Rose Byrne) is one of the players and after the performance, Matthew leaves promptly not knowing that the heavily made-up Alex is, in fact, the woman who'd so recently seduced him. Most of the reasons for everything that had taken place involving Matthew, Lisa, Alex and Luke are eventually revealed in a meeting that takes place in Bellucci's and this prompts the determined Matthew to go back to the airport in the hope of finally tracking down the girl he loves.

The nature of the movie's plot generates a disconcerting atmosphere that's beautifully complemented by the use of numerous film noir motifs such as the use of mirrors, the presence of doubles (e. g. 2 Lisas, 2 characters who fall in love at first sight etc.),a character who uses more than one identity and the way in which the past has such a strong hold over the present. Similarly, its splintered chronology, use of split screen techniques and flashbacks that provide multiple viewpoints, are also all highly effective in serving the same purpose.

There's a marked difference between the relaxed, spontaneous Matthew who's seen working in the camera shop and the rather distant-looking young man who doesn't seem to have his heart in it when he's at the business lunch at Bellucci's or the jewellery store he visits with the intention of buying a ring for Rebecca. In his very natural performance, Josh Hartnett reflects such changes in his character's demeanour with some skill and subtlety and Diane Kruger and Matthew Lillard perform capably in their roles. Rose Byrne, however, outshines everyone else in the cast as the deceitful, obsessive and clearly unhinged Alex who's also both hateful and pitiful.

"Wicker Park" is a movie that has to be seen more than once in order to fully appreciate it and this, no doubt, must've had some effect on the level of commercial success that it achieved.

Matthew Simon (Josh Hartnett) is a NYC advertising executive with beautiful girlfriend Rebecca Martin (Jessica Paré). Returning to Chicago, he thinks he sees his old girlfriend Lisa Parish (Diane Kruger) who disappeared one day. He reconnects with old friend Luke Stanford (Matthew Lillard) and goes in search for Lisa. He is surprised to find another woman (Rose Byrne) who claims to be Lisa. It turns out that she's Lisa's former neighbor and friend Alex Denver.

There are a lot of unlikely convoluted coincidences. It's also told in a confused way. The movie is trying too hard to be shockingly twisty. I think Diane Kruger as the dream girl needs less screen time in the beginning. It's a lot to pin on her performance. Matthew is so haunted that he drops everything to look for her. That is a high hurdle to clear and I don't think she clears it. The other problem is that the star-crossed lovers get tripped up by not talking to each other directly. She's the love of his life and he simply walks away from her. It's a thin premise. Rose Byrne is pretty good as the Single White Female character. The more I think about the plot, the less that I like about it.

In Chicago, the former photographer and presently advertising executive Mathew (Josh Hartnett) is closing a business in a fancy restaurant with a Chinese representative, when he sees a woman that looks like his former passion Lisa (Diane Kruger). Two years ago, Lisa and Matthew had a love affair, and Lisa simply vanished when Matthew invited her to move with him to New York, where he had the invitation for a better job, and Matthew is still obsessed for her. Matthew decides to follow Lisa, and when he meets her, he realizes that Lisa is indeed another woman (Rose Byrne) with the same name. Matthew stays in Chicago with his friend Luke (Matthew Lillard) and decides to investigate the mystery.

On 16 October 2005, when I first saw this remake, I wrote the following review:

Although having a confused screenplay and too much coincidences, "Wicker Park" is a reasonable tale of obsessive love. The script, with many flashbacks, has many flaws and coincidences in a huge city like Chicago. The character Daniel is badly developed and disappears from the story, without any explanation whether he killed his wife or not, how he involved with Lisa and their relationship. The two lead actresses (Diane Krueger and Rose Byrne) are extremely gorgeous and together with Josh Hartnett, they show a great chemistry and make the romance work. The music score is great, and in the end, this film is a good entertainment. My vote is six.

Yesterday (08 March 2011) I saw "L'Appartement" (1996) for the first time and now I have a totally different opinion:

"Wicker Park" is a shallow and corny remake of a great French film. The screenplay resolves some points that are not clear in the original movie, but the adaptation of the story is developed in fast pace and loses the mystery and the romance of "L'Appartement", forgetting details and characters.

The worst of this remake is the detail of communication. "L'Appartement" is a 1996 film in Paris, meaning neither cell phones nor e-mails were available at that time. Therefore, communication was based on phone booths or letters. This remake takes place in Chicago and the characters have cellulars. This single premise would be enough to destroy this remake. But the screenplay writer needs to provide explanations and give a happy ending, destroying the puzzle and discussions about the European film.

Comparing the two films, I dare to write that "Wicker Park" is a "fast food" and "L'Appartement" is a refined feast. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Paixão à Flor da Pele"("Passion Near Skin")