When they put their mind to it, the French can make some pretty decent thrillers (see 2002’s “The Nest” for one of the best shoot’ems put out by the country in recent memory). 2005’s “Anthony Zimmer” may be one of those movies. A thriller/crime drama about an ambitious female Interpol agent (played by Sophia Marceau) who uses a clueless rube to catch an elusive criminal. Or at least, that’s the original premise of the original. The American remake, since retitled “The Tourist”, will star Charlize Theron in the Marceau role, and maybe Tom Cruise as the rube, or perhaps the criminal mastermind being sought. (Or perhaps both, since the rube and the criminal mastermind are supposed to look alike.) The French original was written and directed by Jérôme Salle, but the remake will be directed by Bharat Nalluri, a veteran of TV whose last big movie was the Godawful “Crow” sequel “Salvation”.

Says Variety about the remake:

In the Julian Fellowes-scripted drama, Theron will play a female Interpol agent who uses an American tourist in an attempt to flush out an elusive criminal with whom she once had an affair.

Here’s a longer, albeit less than coherent description of the original French movie, “Anthony Zimmer” from someone at IMDB.com:

In Paris, the international police force and the Russian mafia are chasing Anthony Zimmer, an intelligent man responsible for laundry of dirty money in France. Zimmer had extensive plastic surgery, and his new face and voice are completely unknown. The only means to reach Zimmer is through his beloved mistress Chiara, who is under surveillance of the police and the mobsters. While traveling by train to the country nearby Nice, the common man François Taillandier, who has the same body shape of Zimmer, is select by Chiara as if he were Zimmer and used as a bait to lure those that are pursuing her. When Taillandier is chased by the professional Russian killers, he runs the French police when the real situation begins to be disclosed to him.

The American adaptation was originally written by Julian Fellowes, but the studio has since brought in “Usual Suspects” wunderkind Christopher McQuarrie to work out the wrinkles. Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum and Jonathan Glickman will produce with Canal Plus for Spyglass Pictures.

Below: Charlize Theron can use me anyday.