L'amour aux trousses (2005)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Philippe de Chauveron

Writers:

Philippe de Chauveron (writer)
Guy Laurent (writer)

Release Date:

29 June 2005 (Belgium)

Genre:

Crime | Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Franck and Paul are working as team buddies in their Paris police unit. They are sent on a mission in Toulon to solve a drug traffic mystery...

Plot Keywords:

Toulon | Paris

Cast

Jean Dujardin	...	Franck
Pascal Elbé	...	Paul
Caterina Murino	...	Valeria
François Levantal	...	Carlos
Claude Brasseur	...	Jacques Pellegrin
Tarubi	...	Le Brésilien
Cyril Lecomte	...	Pistachio
Patrick Rocca	...	Morizot
Jean-Luc Porraz	...	Michelet
Frédéric Maranber	...	Luc
Gérard Dubouche	...	Milion
Constantine Attia	...	Le Viking
Frédéric Saurel	...	Le réceptionniste hôtel (as Fred Saurel)
Dominique Bettenfeld	...	Pardo
Thierry René	...	Patrick

Runtime:

France:93 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Cipango

North by southeast

I will not tell in detail the summary of this film. It's the umpteenth version of two cops who love the same woman and have no other choice than to collaborate together to arrest a dangerous gangster (François Levantal) on the French Riviera. But as one of them (Pascal Elbé) discovered that his team mate (Jean Dujardin) slept with his wife, it makes him uptight and makes their mission harder to fulfill. And things get more difficult when Elbé's wife rejoins them and has an important piece of news to tell them.

Philippe De Chauveron is the responsible man for the mediocre and somewhat desultory "les Parasites" (1999). Here, he proves once again that he is a third-rate director with unambitious, cinematographic choices. How can you renew the well-worn genre of the buddy movie, especially with a dash of sentimental genre in it? In spite of efforts not to make the main female part decorative and Dujardin's and Elbé's honest performances, the rest doesn't take off. The film oscillates between several types of humor without managing to find its direction and it sometimes falls flat because it's too convenient. See the scene when Dujardin and Elbé are about to nab their quarry. Elbé can see a couple tenderly kissing and of course can't help but asking questions to Dujardin about his affair with his wife. Another irritating point is when Dujardin and Elbé's wife constantly plan to tell him the truth about the important piece of news mentioned in the first paragraph but can't managed to do so and have to delay it.

Philippe De Chauveron doesn't manage to find a correct proportioning between the detective investigation and what deals with the two cops' sentimental problems. And what doesn't help matters is that they're of a thin interest. And so, so is the viewer's who slowly but surely wanes. I won't also forget Levantal's mediocre performance as a hateful gangster with ponderous features.

It's not worth a watch.