THIEVES
(LES VOLEURS)
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
"It was a bad dream and nothing else," says Alex. Alex is a cop and the lead in the mystery THIEVES (LES VOLEURS) by director Andre Techine (THE WILD REEDS and MY FAVORITE SEASON). Although Alex's quote has nothing to do with the mystery, it sums up my thoughts about the film.
The picture is well acted, but the script by the committee of Michel Alexandre, Pascal Bonitzer, Gilles Taurand, and Andre Techine is pointlessly obtuse. I love mysteries, but this one was little more than a collection of obscure and fairly unrelated events. Once the mystery was solved, my immediate reaction was "so what." Although the performances have technical merit, the script does not create characters worth caring about.
The film starts with a young boy named Justin (Julien Riviere) viewing the body of his father Ivan (Didier Bezace). Justin is told that his father has been killed in an accident. Soon the house is filled with characters who will play parts in the mystery. The most interesting performance is given by Laurence Cote as Juliette Fontana. She is correctly described in the film as a woman with a boyish look. Ivan's brother, Alex the cop arrives and smells a rat. He has a recent newspaper article that makes him suspect his brother did not die in a car accident.
The story then skips back in time and works its way forward to where the film began. Juliette is a petty thief, a perfume shoplifter to be exact. Her brother Jimmy (Benoit Magimel) heists cars. When Alex interrogates her, he likes her looks. (She sports almost nothing but micro-miniskirts in the film.) Soon they will begin a series of trysts at hotels all over the city. She refuses to do it at his place since he is a cop. Alex finds out that she is also having a fling with her professor Marie Leblanc (Catherine Deneuve).
Beyond that I cannot say much more without giving away the mystery. Since there is precious little else to enjoy in the film, I do not want to reveal anything. I hope you are not as disappointed as I was when you find out the answer. After the natural conclusion of the film, there is a part labeled "Epilogue" that is the least interesting part and seems to last forever.
Although I found the pacing too slow and the cinematography (Jeanne Lapoirie) too dark, the show does have an least one tidbit of useful advice. "Luxury cars are dead," advises Jimmy. "The future is in trucks." Maybe you can save money on your new BMW and skip that alarm system, the thieves think your mode of transportation is passe.
THIEVES runs 1:57. It is in French with English subtitles. The film is rated R for profanity, violence, nudity, and explicit sex. The show would be okay for teenagers if they are quite mature. I was both bored and disappointed by the film so I cannot recommend it. I give the picture ** for the acting.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: January 24, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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