Une chance sur deux

Belmondo & Delon, together again, and this time with Vanessa Paradis in tow - or is it the other way round? The basic premise of the film is that Alice Tomaso (Paradis) gets out of jail, and goes looking for Léo (Belmondo) and Julien (Delon), one of whom, it appears, is her father. On the way, she steals the wrong car - one belonging to the Russian mafia, and arrives at her destination with a gang of thugs out looking for her and the car. Mayhem and murder ensue, as Delon and Belmondo compete, not to win the girl, but just for the right to call themselves her father. In the process, they join forces, disrupt the mafia, seize the loot and head of to America for a paternity test.

The whole movie is played for laughs, capitalizing on the James Bond, Naked Gun genre of action comedy, and it works really well. The action is as fast paced, and every bit as far fetched, as any Bond flick. The understated humour, the slick gags and special effects, the subtle dialogue all make this a movie to watch, if you're a Bond fan. You won't be disappointed. On the other hand, if you want your French films to be "arty," deep and philosophical, you'd better go look for a Truffaut or an early Jeunet - you won't find what you're looking for here. This is shallow, it's slapstick, it's silly, and it's fun. Nothing special, just a good evening's entertainment that won't tax your brain (unless you have a problem reading subtitles).