Crime Spree (2003)

A French gang of thieves flies over to Chicago for a one time job. However, things seem to get out of hand soon.

Director:

Brad Mirman

Writer:

Brad Mirman

Stars:

Gérard Depardieu, Harvey Keitel, Johnny Hallyday

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gérard Depardieu	...	Daniel Foray
Harvey Keitel	...	Frankie Zammeti
Johnny Hallyday	...	Marcel Burot
Renaud	...	Zero
Saïd Taghmaoui	...	Sami
Stéphane Freiss	...	Julien Labesse
Shawn Lawrence	...	Agent Pogue
Albert Dray	...	Raymond Gayet
Joanne Kelly	...	Sophie Nicols
Richard Bohringer	...	Bastaldi
Abe Vigoda	...	Angelo Giancarlo
Gino Marrocco	...	Joey Two Tons
Sal Figliomeni	...	Nicky The Rake
Diego Chambers	...	Raphael
Carlos Diaz	...	Hector

Storyline

An out-of-town heist becomes a nightmare for a crew of French burglars when they mistakenly rob the head of the Chicago mafia. Unaccustomed to the ways of the American underworld, it is not long before they have the mafia, the FBI and a couple of street gangs on their backs as they attempt to make their way back to Paris.

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Plot Keywords:

men's room | french | mafia | street gang | fbi | 

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Taglines:

Wiseguys. Not smart guys.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some violence, sexuality and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Hannibal Pictures Official site

Country:

UK Canada

Language:

English French

Release Date:

16 April 2003 (France)

Also Known As:

Wanted

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

GFT Entertainment, Studio Eight Productions, Vision View Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marcel and Zero are respectively played by Johnny Hallyday and Renaud, two of the most famous French rock singers. In the scene where the two are fighting to decide which radio station they'll listen to, they each want to listen to their own song, Marcel wants to listen to some Johnny Hallyday, and Zero wants to listen to some Renaud.

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Goofs

Raymond's coat was quite stained from jumping out of the car onto the grass. When he gets back to the hotel his coat is completely clean.

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Quotes

Zammeti: They were all French guys.
Joey: French Guys? You mean like French from France?
Zammeti: Yeah, French guys from France!

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Crazy Credits

Outtakes run during the end credits.

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Connections

References The Godfather (1972)

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Soundtracks

Dès que le vent soufflera
Written by Renaud
Performed by Renaud
Courtesy of Universal Music Canada

User Reviews

Amiable, flawed and frequently funny.

A crew of fairly inept French burglars are given one last chance to impress their boss by pulling off a jewel robbery in Chicago. To help (or hinder) them, they are given the support of a couple of less savoury hoods and an incompetent Algerian. What follows is almost as predictable as the above might indicate - but not, I'm glad to say, without some quality laughs.

Crime Spree is NOT an excellent film. The script is flawed (the stolen car from the latin gang is a woeful subplot); the acting is too laid back at times and, as has been said below (on Jan 6th 2004), the director often can't decide on the cinematic style he prefers. But let's be balanced here - the director of this film is only as inconsistent as his above detractor. I mean - anyone who thinks the saving of the girl in the hallway is stolen from The Untouchables is being majorly tenuous and then to neglect to mention that De Palma actually (and totally) stole his particular scene from a much earlier movie is not really playing the game. By all means love or hate films - but don't force flawed arguments on those who disagree with you. Please.

The muffled phone sex scene is funny; the ariel shot of Marcel blasting his way through the hotel is excellent; the death scene of one of the gang members is poignant and the styles and verities that work serve the film well. It's not excellent cinema but it is amiable and of a welcome, off-beat quality that deserves appreciation and more respect than some might wish it. Then again - that's just my opinion. Each to their own.