The first and only attempt at a thriller by Claude Ziti , whose filmography contains heavy-handed -to put it mildly- comedies in spades.
Pop singer Patrick Bruel is not much of an actor and his johnny-one-note playing does not help ; the screenplay ,dealing with drug-traffickers ,corrupt cops and violence in the suburbs is so derivative that there's not one scene the average viewer has not seen a hundred times or more .There were harsh words said of the "bowling scene" which is obnoxious.A topless beauty contest verges on voyeurism.
Fortunately ,Didier Bezace saves something from the wreckage ;he 's so subtle an actor that every time he appears ,he blows Bruel and co (with the exception of seasoned Jean Yanne whose screen time is too short)off the screen .His character displays ambiguity: didn't he spend three years in seminary ? In his office , a crucifix is hanging for all to see (nowadays ,in a public place, it's forbidden in France which is a secular country ).And his vocabulary borrows a lot from religion: parish,confession,Extreme -Unction .His relationship with his subordinate he uses as a mole among the little hold-up men sometimes puzzles the viewer when he talks about life life after life .There's also a strange scene ,towards the end ,which might be a metaphor for Hell.
Given the limitations he was working under ,Bezace has to be praised.
Pop singer Patrick Bruel is not much of an actor and his johnny-one-note playing does not help ; the screenplay ,dealing with drug-traffickers ,corrupt cops and violence in the suburbs is so derivative that there's not one scene the average viewer has not seen a hundred times or more .There were harsh words said of the "bowling scene" which is obnoxious.A topless beauty contest verges on voyeurism.
Fortunately ,Didier Bezace saves something from the wreckage ;he 's so subtle an actor that every time he appears ,he blows Bruel and co (with the exception of seasoned Jean Yanne whose screen time is too short)off the screen .His character displays ambiguity: didn't he spend three years in seminary ? In his office , a crucifix is hanging for all to see (nowadays ,in a public place, it's forbidden in France which is a secular country ).And his vocabulary borrows a lot from religion: parish,confession,Extreme -Unction .His relationship with his subordinate he uses as a mole among the little hold-up men sometimes puzzles the viewer when he talks about life life after life .There's also a strange scene ,towards the end ,which might be a metaphor for Hell.
Given the limitations he was working under ,Bezace has to be praised.
