A good movie

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, I have to admit that I barely remembered the damned thing so a rewatch was definitely worth it. Basically, it turned out to be a very solid French film noir. Sure, the plot was fairly generic and predictable but it was still quite entertaining. Indeed, Jacques Becker managed to create here such a vivid and convincing underworld. In fact, even though I’m French, I still had to turn on the subtitles from time to time because all the characters were using such a vintage slang with a vocabulary quite foreign for modern French speakers like me. Concerning Jean Gabin, this movie apparently revived his career at the time. Anyway, he was definitely one of the best French actors and, on top of that, with Steve McQueen and Samuel L. Jackson, he could easily compete for the title of coolest actor ever, especially after watching this movie. Basically, the guy really ruled here and I'm pretty sure his character was an inspiration for Danny Ocean in 'Ocean's Eleven', at least, for Soderbergh's version. The most awesome thing was to see him seducing every single girl, all at least 30 years younger than him, with such an ease and charisma. Another neat aspect was the fact was that, even though Max seemed to be on top of things at all time, he still didn't manage to prevent the tragic conclusion of this movie but this bittersweet ending was actually more than welcome. This movie was also the acting debut of Lino Ventura, a fairly famous actor in France who had a striking resemblance with Sylvester Stallone. Anyway, to conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, I really enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

7/10