By Jim Keogh

To give much more than the briefest outline of Roman de Gare would be terribly unfair. For half the movie, the plot hinges on the true identity of Pierre Laclos, who could be one of the following:

A teacher who has left his wife and children

A ghostwriter for a famous novelist

A serial killer/pedophile who lures his victims with magic tricks.

All three of the above do exist in this story, but not all necessarily in the body of Pierre (Dominique Pinon). One of the devious joys of the film is how it keeps us guessing as to Pierre’s nature from the first moment we see him in a train station, his eyes casually scanning the passengers as they come and go.

Pierre meets a strung-out young woman in that station, Huguette (Audrey Dana), who has just been jilted by her fiancée — “just” in the most literal sense. She’d gotten out of the car to continue an argument, and he’d driven off.

Huguette had been on her way from Paris to her remote mountainside hometown to introduce her fiancée to her parents and to her teenage daughter, who lives with her folks. Rather than endure the hassle of explaining the break-up, Huguette recruits Pierre to pose as her boyfriend for the weekend.

Roman de Gare has fun with this little game of truth or dare (that Pinon is a dead ringer for Boston conman Clark Rockefeller adds a distinct layer of creepiness). Pierre is a good sport about all of this, almost too good. What are his motivations for being so kind to Huguette and, especially, to her daughter? Is he the killer or isn’t he?

The movie then veers into a more reflective direction, as it retreats into the story of famous novelist Judith Ralitzer (Fanny Ardant), and her rocky relationship with the man who has ghostwritten her books for the past seven years.

Is there a more tragic profession than that of ghostwriter? Mired in anonymity, dipped in bitterness, he pens the words for which the less talented are praised, collects his paycheck and goes home. He’s a household name only in his own household.

And with that, no more about this playful little movie. Let’s just say a murder may ensue, a suicide definitely does, and the “ghost” finally comes out of the closet.

Roman de Gare will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, and at 1 and 3:05 p.m. Sunday in the Jefferson Academic Center at Clark University as part of the Cinema 320 series. o