Bruno (Jérémie Renier) is a twenty-year-old small time crook living with his girlfriend Sonia (Deborah François).Their lives are irrevocably altered when Sonia gives birth to their son Jimmy. At first, Bruno professes a desire to change his ways, to go straight, to stop dealing in petty theft and hanging out day in and day out with his thuggish friends.

This change of heart proves to be short-lived, Bruno discovering he can make more money than he’s ever dreamed of by selling his child on the black market. For a few moments after the sale all seems better than it ever has before. He has cash in his pocket, Sonia won’t have to worry about late-night feedings and Jimmy is going to go to a far better home than any they could have dreamed of giving him. But all is not well, not remotely, and Bruno sets out in a daze to try and undue this callous act before the damage done to his soul becomes irreparable.

“L’Enfant (The Child)” is a powerful and harrowing story of disaster and regret sure to stir even the most hardened heart. A strong film, the picture looks at the underbelly of French society with an observational eye towards truth, not condemnation, and as such achieves an intimate immediacy so many other features lack. Assuredly directed by acclaimed brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, the duo became only the fourth filmmakers to win the coveted Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or twice when this took the top prize in 2005 (Billie August, Francis Ford Coppola and Emir Kusturica being the other three).

The thing is, although I was considerably moved by the film, “L’Enfant” is hardly a masterpiece. Other than Bruno, the rest of the cast – including Sonia – are all one dimensional caricatures whose only reason for existing seems to be to get the protagonist from A to B to C and nothing more. Also, unlike three of the duo’s previous works “La Promesse,” Palm D’Or winner “Rosetta” and “Le Fils,” the Dardenne’s writing this time is far too glossy and obvious. I knew the road this picture was traveling down almost from the start, and what should ultimately devastate frustratingly only achieved a quiet tear in heartbreak instead.

Do not make my slight ambivalence as anything too major, however, for that single heartbreaking tear is indeed well earned. It is impossible not to get caught up in Bruno’s whirlwind, the forces suddenly compelling him to find his child and return Jimmy to his mother’s arms are as palpable and human as they come. Much like another (even better) French import of alienated youth, 1998’s superb “The Dreamlife of Angels,” the Dardenne’s know Bruno and his world in every minute detail. A person is horrified by Bruno’s choices, how could they not be, but they also get to understand them, a testament to the filmmaking duo’s talents if there ever was one.

It helps that young Renier is spellbinding as Bruno. Nothing he’s done before, including his sterling work in previous Dardenne productions, can prepare a person for the ferocious complexity of his accomplishments here. Renier is a tiger, clawing into the character with teeth filed to razor sharpness only to have the weight of his morally heinous decisions dull them to cub-like nubs. The man is a dynamo, and by the time he reached the finish I nearly felt like I’d just gone on that furiously demoralizing rollercoaster right along with him.

If the movie isn’t quite as phenomenal as the actor headlining it that is perfectly alright as far as I am concerned. The directors handle their tale with such confidence, such you-are-there joie de vive, I couldn’t help but be moved by the time the climax hit me like a freight train speeding out of control straight into bedlam. If anything, “L’Enfant” grows on you as it goes along, building into an emotional powerhouse that’s truly worth applauding.

Film Rating: êêê  (out of 4)