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      The Crook

      G 1970 2h 0m Crime Drama Mystery & Thriller List
      Reviews 90% 100+ Ratings Audience Score When Simon (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is released from prison, he emerges with a bold kidnapping scheme. He enlists the help of an old cohort and his former lover, Martine (Christine Lelouch), to kidnap a young boy. The child's father is an employee at a bank, and the three criminals blackmail the financial institution, demanding $1 million in ransom. Out of fear, the bank pays the sum, but the kidnappers may have bitten off more than they can chew. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

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      John Mahoney Los Angeles Free Press Great fun. Jan 9, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member A fast-paced crime film, brilliantly directed by Claude Lelouch, that rewards you for getting through the first 20 minutes with some of the best chase sequences ever put to film. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member (****): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Little discussed and basically unknown to Americans, this little French study of the life and times of a crook is both entertaining, intelligent, and unique in style and tone. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member "Le voyou" (1971) is one of those movies you have to see twice to make all the chronological pieces fit - at least I had. Apart from that, the movie is brilliant: it's very European/French in the sense that the glitter and glamour of the entertainment industry is drawn into the realm of the grotesque: Lelouch often combines showy entertainment with concepts like crime (cf. the kidnapping of the child during a tv show, prison break during a wedding ceremony, the title musical named after a crook, with lots of showy gangster element, fake guns, etc.). Furthermore, the essential plot twist in the second half (I won't spoil it, but it pertains to a character who is not quite what he/she seems) is excellent: it almost reverses one's attitude towards certain events and characters. It makes you wonder who is the actual "voyou" here. I could speak volumes about this movie given a chance, since there are so many scenes entertaining enough to go into. As I said, the only difficulty I had was the a-chronological order of events. After seeing it a second time, I realized that ALL the events prior to the kidnapping and its preparations were in fact flash forwards. It's a pity my French isn't any better (I borrowed the French dvd - without any subtitles), for it it were, I would have gotten even more of the nuances. Pity too that the content description of the dvd's insert is one major spoiler. Gives away the entire outcome. Highly recommended. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Entertaining if not much else. Some great action bits, but the first half of the movie is all talking. Its very stylish and pretty slick. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Middle of the road French crime movie that has a well developed plot, but isn't particularly compelling. Also, the gangster musical 'Le Voyou' that keeps coming up throughout the film is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen, hopefully intentionally so. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      The Crook

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis When Simon (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is released from prison, he emerges with a bold kidnapping scheme. He enlists the help of an old cohort and his former lover, Martine (Christine Lelouch), to kidnap a young boy. The child's father is an employee at a bank, and the three criminals blackmail the financial institution, demanding $1 million in ransom. Out of fear, the bank pays the sum, but the kidnappers may have bitten off more than they can chew.
      Director
      Claude Lelouch
      Screenwriter
      Claude Lelouch, Claude Pinoteau, Pierre Uytterhoeven
      Production Co
      Les Productions Artistes Associés, Produzioni Europee Associati, Les Films 13
      Rating
      G
      Genre
      Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
      Original Language
      French (France)
      Release Date (DVD)
      Apr 5, 2005
      Runtime
      2h 0m