The Big Risk

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Audience Member It's like the long drawn-out moody denouement from another film in which Lino Ventura has lived a successful life of crime but which culminated in his escaping from France to live in exile. However, there was no other film! Classe Tous Risques begins abruptly with Ventura seeking to return to Paris after a long exile with his wife and two young kids and a partner. After stealing money for the road and nearly getting caught, they run into tragedy when they are confronted at the border by customs officials and a shoot-out leaves only Ventura and his two boys (7 and 5) alive. So, he calls up his old friends in Paris to come get him out of Nice and back home - but they don't want to know him anymore, now that they are all set up in new profitable lives. They send a hired hand instead, who turns out to be Belmondo, who turns out to be a good egg. He helps Ventura to get the kids taken care of and then they turn their minds to revenge. But Ventura is running out of steam, feeling low, more empty than stoic; Belmondo is full of vigor, falling in love with Sandra Milo, as a counterpoint. The film follows the usual course of French noir, carefully observing the mechanics of each moment, whether it be a heist or a conference amongst gangsters. There's action enough but the mood is sombre. Melville owned this genre but his great films (except Bob le Flambeur, 1956) all came later. Perhaps Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (1954) and Rififi (1955) are the best earlier examples. Still, this hit the spot. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Ah, the French can make those gangster movies laden with Fate, failed loyalties, and - well before the Godfather and the Sopranos - family. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member The good end happily and the bad unhappily. Plus all you want from a film noir. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member It's tough to make a movie about the consequences of the gangster lifestyle without glamorizing the very thing you set out to critique. This film does not fall into that trap. I should note that the location shooting is stunning. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member A well filmed sequence of interesting events, but lacking a hook, or characters in whom I felt invested, or sufficient narrative drive for me to really call it a story. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member A well filmed sequence of interesting events but lacking a hook or characters in whom I felt invested or sufficient narrative drive for me to really call it a story. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Big Risk

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