Reviews

Excellent adventure yarn, great locations, moody music. The last "action-picture" from the late great french director Claude Sautet - from this he went on and did Les choses de la vie, Cesar et Rosalie, Vincent, Francois, Paul et les autres, plus the two masterpieces Un coeur en hiver and Nelly et M.Arnaud, his final movie, from 1994. By the way, he also wrote Borsalino (for Jacques Deray) and Les yeux sans visage (for Georges Franju). L'arme a gauche is not, by all means, a great movie - but compared to the contemporary crap we're fed every day it's outstanding. The plot concerns a ship stolen by gun dealers somewhere in Central America, but it's merely an excuse for 102 minutes of pure joy, given the fact that the lead is played by l'inoubliable Lino Ventura. He alone makes this little movie worth seeing - I mean, the guy was the walking definition of the term cool... Those of you not familiar with Ventura (shame on you!) must not believe that looks are everything - check out his eyes, his moves and his harsh voice in Le clan de siciliens, Ne nous fachons pas or Adieu poulet (not to mention Les tontons flingueurs) and you will agree that he was in the same league with Jean Gabin. To put it another way, one of the best actors ever.

I'm practically speechless... I've just seen this movie for the 12th time...Timeless, hilarious, cynical, intelligent, subtle...a masterpiece! What more can I add? The first of the superb trilogy delivered by in the 70's by the unique Mel Brooks (the other two masterpieces being Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein), this is a movie words simply can't describe! Ditto for the brilliant script (almost every line is quotable!), the incredible music, the splendid choreography and the "hysterical" performances by the fabulous Gene Wilder, the incomparable Kenneth Mars, the late great Zero Mostel and the late GREAT Dick Shawn... I hope you're laughing your hearts out in Heaven now, boys - I know I do here on Earth. And I thank you for that.

I've been waiting to see this film for about 10 years. There never was and there NEVER will be a truly great screen adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe. Because it can't be done. Given that Poe is definitely one of my favourite writers, you probably would suggest that I shouldn't watch any movie (or TV movie) based on one of his writings. True. But I love movies, and one of the best I've seen is The Pit and the Pendulum, directed by the great Roger Corman, which is an adaptation of Poe's short story and has virtually NOTHING to do with it. But Corman is Corman and he did 5 or 6 movies based (inspired by...) on Poe, and they're all classics (if you love this kind of cinema), and Vincent Price is absolutely splendid and...enough about history. Therefore, you should never expect a brilliant(or even decent)adaptation of Poe, but if you agree with that and if you are prepared to swallow characters and facts that aren't present in Poe's story (Murders in the Rue Morgue, that is) then you're in for a treat. The lugubrious atmosphere, the fluid camerawork, the impressive production design and the magnificent location all add panache to a well told (by David Epstein) and well directed (by Jeannot "Somewhere in Time" Szwarc) tale. And let's not forget the great, late George C.Scott, whose presence alone makes the film worthwile. And listen closely...If you love Poe just on paper, better stay away! If you haven't read the story (and if you like Scott), stick with it! Just remember - if you want a gore movie, wait till Dario Argento makes his own version. If you want an intellectual/perverse/subversive flick, talk to Polanski or De Palma. This one is just a TV movie.