Les kidnappeurs (1998)

Director:

Graham Guit

Writers:

Graham Guit (writer)
Éric Névé (writer)

Release Date:

25 November 1998 (France)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime

Cast

Melvil Poupaud	...	Armand Carpentier
Élodie Bouchez	...	Claire
Romain Duris	...	Zero
Isaac Sharry	...	Ulysse
Elie Kakou	...	Freddy Messina
Hélène Fillières	...	Nuage
Patrick Lizana	...	Fyvus Finkel
Sacha Bourdo	...	The hostage
Richard Chevallier	...	Jo Messina
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Clifford Andee	...	Garde
Damien Arnone	...	Homme Freddy
Valerie Barriere	...	Copine Ulysse
Omar Bekhaled	...	Paco
Fabrice Bénard	...	Garde Portail
Arnaud Binard	...	Rufus
Yves Blouet	...	Garde
Patrick Cauderlier	...	Garde
Pascal Cervantes	...	Amant de Claire
Frédéric Chambin	...	Garde
Cédric Charpentier	...	Millionnaire Lithuanien
Jacques Cosma	...	Garde
Renaud Del Citerna	...	Jeune cadre
Jean-François De Rocan	...	Malabar course
Arnaud Dinard	...	Rufus
Dominique Donati	...	Joueur d'échec
Dalnora Dudrevicius	...	Millionnaire Lithuanien
Fabien Duval	...	Claude Messina
Sonia Dziabas	...	Fille Lithuanienne
Joel Eyraud	...	Millionnaire Lithuanien
Magali Farrugia	...	Fille Lithuanienne
Ivan Fegyveres	...	Groom
Michel Femenia	...	Jacky Messina
Jean-Michel Fontas	...	Millionnaire Lithuanien
Marc Geoffroy	...	Homme Freddy
Sonia Gros	...	Fille Lithuanienne
Mathias Hondre	...	Adversaire Zero
Edouard Kawak	...	Garde
Philippe Lombard	...	Elie Messina
Dzoni Mandic	...	Organisateur course
Christophe Maratier	...	Homme Freddy
Nicky Marbot	...	La pieuvre
Julia Masini	...	Call girl
Laurent Pourpoint	...	Garde
Claude Samuel	...	Simon Messina
Jennifer Swanson	...	Fille Lithuanienne
Abraham Tolofua	...	Malabar course
David Ventura	...	Marco Messina
Angélique Wattez	...	Fille Lithuanienne

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

France:U

Filming Locations:

Côte d'Azur, France

Company:

Canal+

Movie Connections:

Features Docteur Justice (1975)

mediocre B thriller

The year before "les Kidnappeurs" (1998) opened in France, Graham Guit had signed a tight and dry B whodunit with a dash of humor: "le Ciel est à Nous" (1997). Its model in the form and the content was the violent and bloody universe of Quentin Tarantino. One year later, hiring the same crew, he did it again with "les Kidnappeurs", obviously an endeavor to produce a new little worked up whodunit in the same vein as its predecessor. Alas, it's a let-down which isn't up to scratch with "le Ciel est à Nous" and has virtually nothing commendable.

There have been harsh words about Guit's effort and rightly so. It fails to be exciting albeit the onset starts under auspicious skies. As a matter of fact, the whole interest of the film remains confined in the outset with this astute idea: how Ulysse reveals to his accomplices how it is possible to simply succeed the burglary without danger and to pocket the loot. But as the average viewer can guess, it's too good to be true since in reality, the operation will go awry and the loot will be rubbish. It's the only watchable part of the flick and the job must be done under Freddy's orders.

Alas, after the first meeting of the gang with him, it's downhill and it seems that Guit has left the building. The rest of the film consists of complex filler and its desultory character is revealed in all its splendor. Various inexplicable twists, complications and muddle clutter a screenplay written besides in a snap manner without altering and more serious without any attempt to clarify it. The director doesn't bother for his job and shelved a crucial premise of the cinema: a film is a sort of communicative link between its author and the viewer. But here, by delivering a story which is hard to decipher, Guit shows no respect for the audience.

As he botches his job with his couldn't-care-less directing, it doesn't help his actors who do what they can to save the film from wreckage although it is doomed to failure. Too bad for young interprets like Elodie Bouchez or Melvil Poupaud who made the mistake to get themselves embroiled in this dud. Isaac Sharry makes his part count early in the story but then it becomes uninteresting. Romain Duris stands out as the lousy baddie with an IQ close to zero but one prefers him when he teams up with Cedric Klapisch. It even seems that the cast, by moments prefers to enjoy sunny landscapes.

Loose: it's the most suitable adjective to qualify Guit's piece of work who neglected to include stringent in his mind when he wrote the film. A hash of money as well as a waste of film both for the actors and the audience. Take "le Ciel est à Nous" instead.

NB: Elie Kakou dies at the end of the film, a sinister omen when one knows that he died of a cancer the following year in 1999...