Starring Vincent Lindon and Diane Kruger. In French with English subtitles. Rated 14A. Opens Friday, July 31, at the Ridge Theatre

Physically, Vincent Lindon has always been an interesting performer, since his rough-hewn physiognomy effortlessly straddles the narrow line that separates the French tough guy from the French Everyman.

In Anything for Her, this selling point proves to be essential, as the actor portrays a desperate father who will do literally anything to get his diabetic wife (Diane Kruger) out of the prison where she is serving a 20-year sentence for a murder that she might well have committed (despite a seemingly exculpatory flashback). Prior to this catastrophe, Julien and Lisa seemed to have the perfect marriage. Three years later, after their last chance of legal redress has expired, Lisa is becoming increasingly suicidal while Oscar (Lancelot Roch), the couple’s young son, is growing ever more distant from his maximum-security mom.

Clearly, something has to be done, and if that something requires the transformation of a quiet school teacher into a desperate criminal, well, so be it.

Writer-director Fred Cavayé does an excellent job of maintaining suspense, especially during the second half of the film, and he plots his tale like someone more interested in pathologically faithful family men than in doomed sexual obsessives.

Aesthetically, Anything for Her doesn’t reach for the highest possible ground. On the other hand, there’s no denying that the film is tip-top entertainment in a field that has fallen on very hard times.