Alain Delon produced this movie and this sums up its flaws: 'Two Men in Town' is mostly about showcasing a very likable ex-con. A real role model for ex-con actually. You can guess that the story of a very likable ex-con offers very little to entertain (not joking here) or thrill you. Actually the movie looks like a would-be film noir where fate takes the whole movie to step in. In a real bona fide film noir the hero is gradually derailed from the start, here we have to wait again and again. And suspense it is not, not when it's just about waiting for something to really happen as opposed to teasing.
José Giovanni never was a good director, his main flaw being his dull complacent treatment of honour/friendship among thieves/gangsters and other all-brawn social outcasts. So he was always weak on character depth and character development. Now, when you are tired you can enjoy the simplistic story and action of some of his movies, the problem being there is no action here and Giovanni has no clue what character psychology might be (well apparently you never get a chance to understand psychology in jail).
All in all you can passively enjoy this movie on a dull evening. Gabin is not doing much, but it's Gabin and he still had charisma. Delon is pleased with his poor handsome straight guy thingy and it is OK to watch him enjoy it (that is taking his slim role very much seriously). Then there are a couple of nice supporting characters that happen to ring in and they do help to stand 90 minutes of mostly nothing.
The ending fails to bring something new, it even fails to build a consistent case against death penalty. The last few images of Delon should be gripping, but the setup was too low-key for it to be the heart-wrenching moment you would expect.
José Giovanni never was a good director, his main flaw being his dull complacent treatment of honour/friendship among thieves/gangsters and other all-brawn social outcasts. So he was always weak on character depth and character development. Now, when you are tired you can enjoy the simplistic story and action of some of his movies, the problem being there is no action here and Giovanni has no clue what character psychology might be (well apparently you never get a chance to understand psychology in jail).
All in all you can passively enjoy this movie on a dull evening. Gabin is not doing much, but it's Gabin and he still had charisma. Delon is pleased with his poor handsome straight guy thingy and it is OK to watch him enjoy it (that is taking his slim role very much seriously). Then there are a couple of nice supporting characters that happen to ring in and they do help to stand 90 minutes of mostly nothing.
The ending fails to bring something new, it even fails to build a consistent case against death penalty. The last few images of Delon should be gripping, but the setup was too low-key for it to be the heart-wrenching moment you would expect.