Le ruffian

Starts absolutely masterful and then nosedives hard, sadly.

The amazing Lino Ventura plays a rough prospector in the rocky mountains, at least we're lead to believe that. After a stunningly directed and framed violent and exciting prologue full of beautiful landscape photography scored with a Ennio Morricone soundtrack the movie transforms into an awkward garbled mess that doesn't really know what it wants to be.

I have rarely seen a movie nosedive this hard. I would have loved if the movie had stayed a rough wilderness survival adventure piece with a solo Lino Ventura fighting nature and bandits.

But as it is I can only recommend everyone watch the movie until Lino Ventura arrives in the city and immediately destroy the DVD or Blu-Ray they're watching, to keep the great impressions of the first arc and spare themselves the sour note of a completely blundered premise.