Bantam Solid French cinema- this would be the ultra-short version. Even though the movie is being categorised as action and a thriller, in reality it is more of a drama and a biopic. Set in the time frame of 1975 to 1981 it details the struggle between the French police and the the mob. What is now commonly known as the French Connection (the way drugs were smuggled from Turkey to Marseille, refined and repacked there and then shipped off to the U.S.), serves as the backdrop for this movie. On the one hand there is the gang of mobsters (hence the name La French) on the other a special task force dealing with organised crime. Pierre Michel, a magistrate attached to this task force, goes all in to battle the current boss 'Tany' Zampa.But as said, it's not a flashy action flick. Michele is portrayed as a driven, obsessed man - it is implied that he had some gambling problems in the past - who seems to be actually trying to catch the 'bad guys'. During the entirety of the movie his determination is being shown as close to obsession as possible without too much cliché. It is obvious that his obsession will get him into trouble, sooner or later.The entire main cast does its best to stay focused on portraying 'normal' people- with all the rational and irrational thinking that drives us. Dujardin does well in his role, even though I found some scenes a bit 'too much'. I presume the director wanted to capture as much of the emotional struggle as possible in those scenes. The movie is little over 2 hours, so IMO a few more minutes to elaborate on the emotional stress magistrate Michele was going through, would have served the movie well.There is some action here and there, but it's neither flashy, nor heroic. It's the simple, realistic depiction of action and some graphic violence, or rather its absence, that adds to the movie. As said before, the movie is more of a drama, more focused on the characters involved and their struggles. It's one of the movies where even the antagonists have some sort of inner emotional cosmos one can actually relate to.The movie in its entirety is sombre, a bit bleak and some parts (especially the last 10 mins) have almost a cynical undertone to them. In general there are only a few lighter parts. And that all while being filmed in southern France, ie. it's almost sunny all the time- some shots underline this contrast very nicely: Michele and Zampa meet on an outcrop while the sun is slowly setting in the background. All those little bits and pieces add up to very solid drama; no light fare, to be sure. Give it a go if you're into Eurocinema.

writers_reign Another great policier from La Belle France where they continue to make films about PEOPLE and seemingly never heard of cgi, streets named Elm or Men in black. The two leads are both more or less playing against type; Dujardin starred in two COMICAL crime capers as an inept James Bond figure, Lellouche is more often on the receiving end of violence than generating it and they co-starred memorably in a comedy a couple of years back. Here, Dujardin in Eliot Ness mode fronts a unit to bring down not a beer but a drugs trafficker (Lellouche) and like Ness has a serious family life going for him. Aptly for a movie set in Marseilles one of the supporting players is Gerard Meylan, a regular member in Robert Guideguin's repertory company and like the entire cast he is more than up to snuff. There well may be those who will groan not ANOTHER Gallic gangster film and that of course is their right and they can't touch you for it but the rest of us will, I suspect, wallow in yet another great policier.

jdesando Pierre (Jean Dujardin) is a good French cop we can admire; Tany (Gilles Lellouche) is a drug lord we can like despite his murderous heroin. The Connection, loosely based on incidents surrounding the infamous French Connection, both real and depicted in William Friedkin's 1971 award-winning thriller starring Gene Hackman. If you can separate yourself from the testosterone-fueled business, you will experience a thriller of humane proportions.Pierre has taken over the magistrate's responsibility for mob activity, and heroin is the big enemy. Writer-director Cedric Jimenez and writer Audrey Diwan expertly navigate between his daily professional activity and after-work family life with a wife and two children. When it's revealed that Pierre had an addictive gambling problem, the audience is appreciative of his weakness but cognizant of his obsessive personality, such as pursuing Tany.The film also shows mobster Tany in his two worlds of business and family. While the director may too frequently parallel edit the two characters in these roles, he successfully reveals two characters with traits we can understand.Beyond the inevitable blood, of which there is less than might be expected, is the oft-told tale of highly-driven men who want successful careers and happy family life—those of us who have seen many such thrillers know the balance is impossible. In a way the film draws us into each sphere with responses more sympathetic than judgmental.The pace of The Connection is frenetic between paralleling the two principles' activities and chronicling the confrontations (I like when the two meet at a remote spot in a low-key, un-macho response for both) many of which are hair-raising heists and busts. Just as often, however, the film slows it down to a daily level that draws in our attention to the little things of life yet keeps the suspense and terror in the background.As in A Most Violent Year, starring Oscar Isaac about a good but going-bad business man in NYC in the early '80's, so too does The Connection make that lawless time, albeit European, seductive because Dujardin is so compelling while he breaks laws to stop crime. It's ironic and complicated. That's life, and that's Chinatown, Jake.

geoced The trailer got me really interested, especially because it seemed to promise a fierce duel between Dujardin & Lellouche, not unlike the memorable Al Pacino/De Niro duel in "Heat", which I still consider to be the absolute best gangster movie ever! Well, it didn't really deliver on those promises... Dujardin was great as a relentless judge, but unfortunately I thought that Lellouche lacked the kind of machismo and presence that would have made him a strong opponent to Dujardin. He wasn't convincing as a feared and respected drug kingpin. Without what should have been its strongest point, the film fails to keep us interested, mainly because of its uninspired plot and dialogs as well as its length. Because of all this, "La French" feels like a missed opportunity. Too bad, I really wanted to love this one! If you wanna watch a great french gangster movie, I recommend "L'immortel" or "Truands". 6/10