As an Alain Delon vehicle, "Le Choc" is a shockingly (pun intended) banal programmer, occasionally livened up by the well-executed moments of violence (and they are plenty: fork through the palm, knife through the head, fireplace poker through the stomach, etc.). As one of the very few Delon-Deneuve pairings, it's nothing much: the only surprising thing about their love scene is how early into the film it comes. Delon has played this kind of role a million times before, but he does give a convincing performance, and easily (at least on this occasion) outclasses Deneuve. They both go for a rather "inexpressive" style of acting, but you can read a lot more on his face that you can on hers. For those who might care, he also has a full-frontal nude scene in this film BUT it's shot from a long distance and he's behind a glass wall. (**)
