The Crook (1970) User Reviews

The perfect plot

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 24 September 2006]

Claude Lelouch was at the top of his career when he conceived this immensely satisfying thriller. Not having seen it, we caught with it recently thanks to finding it in DVD format. The only bad aspect of the disc we watched was the poor sound track it had, we had to keep pumping up the volume during the dialogs and lowering it whenever the musical number of the film-within-the-film was shown. As with most of his movies, Mr. Lelouch relied on Francis Lai to create the score. The most amusing scene happens when Simon is being interrogated by the police and the inspector tells Simon about a "man and a woman" and Simon, without missing a beat begins to sing the music from the real "A Man and a Woman", a film by Mr. Lelouch, where the same actor, Jean-Louis Trintignant appeared.

The film will probably confuse some viewers because there is no clear indication that after Simon meets Jeanine and goes to see Martine at the park and his subsequent escape to either Spain, Switzerland, or Genoa, the narrative will go back to tell the real story in flashbacks. Other than that minor incident, "Le Voyou" is a perfect movie about a caper and the people that planned it.

Jean-Louis Trintignant was also at one of his best moments in the French cinema. He is a joy to watch as the slick Simon, who is always a step ahead of everyone else. Danielle Delorme, Christine Lelouch, Charles Gerard, Yves Robert and Charles Denner, do excellent work for the director.

Another interesting fact is that Claude Lelouch did the interesting cinematography in the film. His camera angles, especially when the inspector is interrogating the Galloises after their son has been kidnapped, he shows the couple on both sides of the police, of whom we only see the back of his head. The chase scenes are cleverly done, showing cars speeding through the Parisian streets.

This is a highly recommended film for fans of the genre and Mr. Lelouch.

One of the rarest and most bearable Lelouch ever.

[searchanddestroy-1 · 8/10 · 1 October 2021]

Unusual and entertaining, if not fun crime flick with the Lelouch touch, but here, strangely, it works. Not brutal nor gloomy. The kidnapping scheme where everyone is winner, bank and criminals, is absolutely incredible !! You'll find here the charm of the early seventies where Lelouch hired his usual bunch: Charles Gerard, Jean Louis Trintignant, Aldo Maccionne and I guess some more. Lelouch is not usually my stuff, my cup of tea, especially for two hours features, but here, I repeat, it's OK. Don't look for many moral nor ethics here, but that's the Lelouch's touch.

Exceptional but a tad confusing

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 10 September 2006]

I watched this film on DVD and absolutely loved it--nearly as much as other European crime classics such as RAFIFI, BOB LE FLAMBEUR and GRAND SLAM. The acting was amazingly realistic--particularly from Jean-Louis Trintignant in the lead. The direction is generally excellent and the writers showed that they could make an intelligent and well-constructed film that is timeless. And the film just screams quality is nearly every respect.

Despite how much I loved the film, the editing was very odd, in that the scene transitions from the present (1970) to 1965 and this transition is not at all smooth. You figure it all out very quickly but you are left with the distinct impression that you missed something. As I had the DVD, I went back and reviewed this transition where the two male crooks are eating at the home of the lady Jean-Louis Trintignant met at the theater in 1970 (after his prison escape). Suddenly, his old girlfriend is seen driving up to a house in the country and it's "pre-crime"--and long before he goes to prison. It appears to be a mistake and I can't see why the director would have chosen this otherwise.

So one final comment about the film. The movie succeeds in hooking you because the plot is pretty entertaining and complex and I strongly recommend it. Oddly, however, the DVD box says it's a comedy. I wouldn't agree--it's not at all funny, though it has some ironic twists (that you're bound to like) and has a somewhat light mood at times.

Merci Simca

[dbdumonteil · 27 January 2007]

I do not go much for Lelouch's stuff ,which is to the French cinema what Mac Donald is to gastronomy.But,and this is crucial,there are exceptions."La Vie,L'Amour ,La Mort" which was a semi-flop ,was a sincere plea against death penalty;and there are two delicious comedies:one of them is "La Belle Année" (1974) ,and the other is this film .

It's about a child's abduction but things are not what they seem,and at a time when unexpected twists have become de rigueur ,I think one could remake "le voyou".The film takes also at a slap at the commercials and the "Thank you,Simca ( cars)" scene is worth the price of admission.Also features Sacha Distel at the Olympia ,the famous Paris music hall: he sings "Toute La PLuie Tombe Sur Moi" ;a French cover of "raindrops keep fallin' on my head".Good cast with a dynamic Jean-Louis Trintignant,who starred in Lelouch's Cannes Palme d'Or 1966 "Un Homme et Une Femme" ,and Charles Denner.

Anachronisms: the kidnapping was supposed to happen in 1965;but "raindrops keep fallin' on my head " was a 1970 song,so Distel could not sing a cover in 1965.Ditto for the "Un homme et Une Femme" (1966) private joke!

Lelouch successfully turns out a crime thriller in his own style, but something is lacking

[Chris Knipp · 7/10 · 19 January 2006]

On the loose again after escaping from prison, Tritignant, known as "the Swiss" for his precision and his habit of working alone (?) is a suave criminal who avoids capture and carries out a successful kidnapping (in which he does not at all work alone but has three or four accomplices). The film has a bright look and a pleasing sense of watching a smooth, gentlemanly crook at work, though there is never any sense of danger, and comparisons with Tarantino seem very wide of the mark. The action has momentum and charm, but things become a bit confusing due to oddly placed flashbacks. There is a focus on the role of publicity and media involvement in kidnappings, which allows the "crook" to successfully blackmail a bank for a million dollars, and features a gullible couple who give up their small boy because they think they've won a Simca car. We're suckered by ads, Lelouch is saying, and look what it can come to. Charles Denner of Elevator to the Scaffold and Life Inside Out/La vie à l'envers is effective and strange, if not real, as a minor bank official. A typical Lelouch touch is bookending the film with a musical film-within-the-film called "The Crook"/"Le Voyou" and it is all very amusing,stylish, and light. But somehow it leaves you flat, and the main event, the kidnapping, cheats the audience: we aren't told the setup.

Middling and Overlong

[kenjha · 6/10 · 30 December 2011]

A man escapes from prison and seeks the loot he had stashed away five years earlier. The middling narrative moves in fits and starts, with scenes unfolding at a leisurely pace. In particular, there's an elaborate kidnapping scene that plays out in such minute detail that it loses all momentum. The presentation is rather confusing. In fact, the flashback to the events of five years earlier is so clumsily handled that it takes a while for it to become clear that earlier events are being recounted. It opens with an extended prologue, a movie within the movie, that overstays its welcome. The same could be said of the film, which runs out of steam long before the end.

Needs a second view

[AAdaSC · 7/10 · 12 March 2017]

Jean-Louis Trintignant (Simon) has escaped from prison. He is on the run and hijacks Danièle Delorme (Janine) for a place to hang out until he can get hold of some money that he previously stashed away and make his bid for freedom.

The film seems complicated and difficult to follow because the director Claude Lelouch has really messed up on this one. I didn't realize until towards the end that what I had been watching had been a flashback. There is no way of knowing. I spent a lot of the film thinking that it just didn't make sense, especially when Trintignant is arrested over a kidnapping. They seem to know where he is so why didn't they just arrest him earlier given that he has escaped from jail? The reason is because the whole kidnap sequence is a flashback and he hasn't yet been to jail. There is also a confusing part at the beginning where he seems to be telling people he is in different countries whilst he retrieves some money and hands it over to someone else. What is happening?

However, the story is actually quite good once you get your head around the fact that you may have missed countless flashbacks. I pretty much watched the whole film as a straight narrative – because that is how the director presents the film – and was ready to sling it on the reject pile as being ridiculously non-sensical. Viewer beware, there is a point or maybe several points where this film goes back in time. Once things don't make sense, you are probably in the flashback part of the story and if you understand this, the film is actually quite good. It needs a second viewing. My copy is dubbed in English – does anyone know if there is a sub-titled version?

Merci Simca

[Chrisva · 10/10 · 13 June 2005]

This is a brilliant, charming film. To the poster wanting "Merci Simca" to become a common well-known phrase- I totally agree. This movie has it all- wit, charm, great acting, clever script, great use of flashbacks, inventive crimes, great car chase thru the 70's streets of Paris- an almost perfect film. This movie is easily the equal of other classic French crime films of the time- it's a shame it is so little known. You may be thrown a bit (as was I) when characters are doing things out of character, not realizing it's a flashback, but that only adds to the experience- I'd rather be confused for a few minutes than have some obvious corny announcement that a flashback is coming, like squiggly dream lines appearing on screen. I had heard nothing of this film and had no expectations, and was blown away. This film was 25 years ahead of its time, it's kind of a forerunner to comedy/crime films such as Pulp Fiction, True Lies, Go, etc., but superior to all those.

Marvelously original mixture of caper film, farce, and classic nihilism

[aromatic-2 · 10/10 · 27 May 2000]

Trintignant is brilliant, aided by a terrific supporting cast, as a nihilistic but debonair professional thief. The plot is very clever with many surprising twists and turns, and this is combined with a philosophical spirit that transcends description. The film within a film angle has never been handled with more panache. I just saw it this week after not seeing it since the 70's, and the film stands the test of time marvelously -- still as fresh, funny, and involving as when I saw it originally. I recommend this overlooked jewel very strongly.

A French crime film ahead of its time

[ch4151 · 9/10 · 7 January 2006]

Thanks to other reviewers on IMDb. I picked up this pleasant surprise. The opening musical had me worried a little. But soon the clever plot revealed itself. This movie is witty and funny, several steps above a lot of Hollywood movies in the same genre today. It still looks incredibly fresh today.

The flashback is so seamlessly inserted that I watched the movie again just to find out exactly where it begins. There are moments that make you smile or laugh out loud: the movie-in-movie poking fun at the genre, the mentioning of LeLouch's another film – "un home et une femme", the kidnapping plot, the little details about the characters,etc. LeLouch's direction is fluid and stylish. The naturalistic acting is great and spot-on from the top down. I didn't know that Trintignant could be funny!!! In this movie, he is charismatic, charming, and ruthless all at once and never once goes over the top or shows any movie star self-awareness we usually see today.

This is a fantastic movie that can be watched again and again.

Classy but not that special...

[JasparLamarCrabb · 5/10 · 24 May 2014]

A classy but not entirely successful crime thriller from director Claude Lelouch. Jean-Louis Trintignant stars as career criminal who, after being busted for kidnapping a child, escapes from jail and is bent on getting revenge on one of his turncoat cohorts (to say anymore would spoil things). Trintignant is dynamite as a seedy, amoral louse who'll stop at nothing as he arrogantly eludes police capture. He's supported by the likes of Daniele Delorme (whose case of Stockholm syndrome hits very quickly), Christine Lelouch, Charles Gérard and Amidou as a not-so- trustful gun salesman. Best of all is Charles Denner as the very nervous father of the kidnap victim. There's some pretty hyperactive music by Francis Lai that really can't mask the fact that not much is happening during the film's first half. The plot kicks in and the film's second half is very enjoyable. Lelouch did the cinematography as well...as he's done for a number of his films.

Creative serious fun.

[Nasara · 10/10 · 11 June 2000]

This is a film that I remember fondly from the 70s. A great caper movie with several twists and turns. Betrayal and counter betrayal and a conclusion that makes you laugh out loud! Usually a serious actor in political or psychological films - Jean Louis T. tries some lighter than air 'hey-presto' and proves that he can do comedy as well. I wish more people would know this film so that the satirical line "Merci, Simca" would be a household word - to diffuse Regis' line "Is that your final answer".

Of the several themes the film explores, none is more relevant than the theme of the popularization of greed. A 'kidnapage' is effectively carried out during a televised game show, whilst the parents are instructed to repeat the sponsors name, hence they repeat "Merci, Simca", the name of the car they hope to win.

A whirligig of clever suspense and droll humor

[capitan_movie · 10/10 · 3 July 2000]

Lelouche and Trintignant combine for a deft, lighter touch than their normal weighty collaborations. Full of wry touches, there is never a pause in the mind's contribution and nothing conventional to help you catch your breath. This is the kind of movie that you wish Hollywood could make but it never does, full of layers of complexity and wit, this mini-masterpiece improves with each repeated viewing.

25 years before Tarantino

[raghavan-69 · 9/10 · 8 December 2005]

i LOVE this movie. I couldn't open the comment board so wrote my raptures on the message board. Please read that because i really want people to discover this lovely film. You may read the DVD cover and get an idea of the story. It's a lovely story but like all the great filmmakers say: it's not the story but how you tell it. I saw this movie and immediately watched it again with my assistants. I told them, Hollywood makes some superb films....but they can awe and intimidate you with their sheer mastery of the medium, technique and superior budgets. French cinema on the other hand can truly liberate you. This film has such a delightful casualness and yet is strongly plotted and has superb performances and full of ideas and technique that is decades before Quentin T and co.

And anyone who can get me Claude Lelouch's email id or contact address....i'd be very grateful. Need to send a two word mail or letter. Wow and Thanks. And i recommend Happy New Year to all those who love this picture. Find it, watch it.

This is one of the better French criminal movies in my mind.

[kalevpoeg · 9/10 · 5 October 2005]

I watched lately this movie and enjoyed a lot. I love old French movies anyway. But this one had kind of nice storyline in it also. It was directed quite well. Picture didn't jump around and kept in line with story. It had even some musical touch and it was nice to hear old French songs. It didn't to become boredom though. It stopped singing fast enough. Movie was filmed around cities in different European countries and scenes were pretty. Also acting work was professional level and much more robust than Hollywood acting. Less sugar coating! I would recommend this movie to any Francophile and also crime movie liker! It is really fun to watch and something different from nowadays.

Parfait!

[swintex · 9/10 · 11 April 2012]

Don't miss this one. Lightning fast, deviously clever, smart and stylish, and blazing with the vivid, hot colors of 1970s. The plot will grab you and, for a time, bewilder you. Once the pieces start to fit you realize what masterful hands you've been in for taking you through this fun-house hall of mirrors. This is that rare, wildly entertaining detective flick that most fans of the genre have yet to discover. Nine stars. Given its obscurity, and its subtitles, it's ripe for a first-rate remake. Hugh Jackman? Natalie Portman? Directed by Darren Aronofksy? Wow! What an exciting idea. Darren: Are you reading this. ;-)

My Masterpiece number 142!!

[elo-equipamentos · 10/10 · 13 January 2024]

As the first crime picture of the master Claude Lelouch that on opening scene already says what's coming next on so unusual starting, the non linear story about a runaway con "Le Suisse" after his escape from prison, so his past year is slowly disclosed for the audience thru many flashbacks, how he carried out a bold kidnaping of a poor child where their parents can't afford the high ransom, as bank employee Suisse demands the own bank pay it upon the eyes of angry costumers and public opinion as well, also how he is got by the French police and sentenced to 20 years in jail.

As far I know it was the best role played by Jean-Louis Trintignant on a stunning acting as the overachiever Voyou as the French say, a kindly crook, no violent whatsoever, just a smooth and clever criminal as Lelouch makes a point to imply, so the viewers upon this premise cheer for the bandit even knowing what he is done is wrong, the whole plot grab you since the beginning until the unexpected ending, all remaining casting is great, the naïve Gallois (Charles Denner) the sexy Martine (Christiane Lelouch) the cynical Le Commissaire (Yves Robert) and Le Suisse's faithful sidekick Charlot (Charles Gerard).

A well-crafted screenplay, smart lines well fitted dialogues attached a brilliant storyline as never seen before in France, all these altogether make this picture unique, I'm really baffled when I saw merge sixteen reviews posted here, it is easily explained quite sure for dealing an American movie site even the most worldwide famous, hope this picture reach in others cinephiles like me even watching more than 12.000 pictures never had a chance to see it before, stuff of commercial TV, no French movies, just fortuitously.

Thanks for reading

Resume:

First watch: 2024 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 10.