Having become embroiled in the sinister world of child prostitution in The Lost Son, Daniel Auteuil plays another Frenchman in London in The Escort, who discovers he can make big bucks as a gigolo, writes David Parkinson.

Co-scripted, in English, by director Michel Blanc and Hanif Kureishi, the action has a bitter tang of authenticity, as the opportunistic Auteuil preys variously on bored socialites, timid housewives and vulnerable lonelyhearts. But his relationships with fellow escort Stuart Townsend and single-mother-hooker Liza Walker are less persuasive, diverting us into the realms of melodrama when the psychological motivation for Auteuil's increasingly egomaniacal behaviour are far more intriguing.