Nickel and Dime

Original title: À la petite semaine

20032003
1h 40m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

408

YOUR RATING

Comedy Drama

Jacques is coming home after a long stretch behind bars. The boys are waiting, especially hi longtime friend Francis and new kid on the block Didier. They have a job lined up. but Jacques wa... Read allJacques is coming home after a long stretch behind bars. The boys are waiting, especially hi longtime friend Francis and new kid on the block Didier. They have a job lined up. but Jacques wants out of the life, Francis would rather be on the stage and wannabe mobster Didier has l... Read allJacques is coming home after a long stretch behind bars. The boys are waiting, especially hi longtime friend Francis and new kid on the block Didier. They have a job lined up. but Jacques wants out of the life, Francis would rather be on the stage and wannabe mobster Didier has loser written all over him. Looks like someone's heading for a fall.

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

408

YOUR RATING

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Awards
- 1 nomination

Featured review

6/10

Noir by the numbers

Those of us with a long memory can remember Jean Gabin getting released from prison one morning and going home by bus. When he gets there, he's dumbfounded to see high-rise buildings all around him. Things have changed so much while he's been away (Mélodie en sous-sol, 1963). Henri Verneuil was a director who knew how to make us aware of the changes going on in his characters. Sam Karmann, on the other hand, just puts his actors through their paces with little regard for details--just look how clumsy the scene where Etienne Chicot shows Jacques Gamblin the jewelry is. A Melville, a Becker or a Corneau would have known how to create more interest for the viewer.

The story has to be carried by the actors, and what a fine crew they are. Gérard Lanvin as the just-released prisoner, Jacques Gamblin as an aspiring actor heading into middle age and Clovis Cornillac as the most impulsive, and self-destructive, crook in ages are all great to watch. Cornillac especially, as the muscle-bound, dopey Didier is a lot of fun; he reminds me of a French Ralph Meeker.

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