The Loner

Jean Paul Belmondo takes his "Dirty Harry" persona deep into the heart of eighties fashion, putting off a planned early retirement to the Carribean in order to track down the man who killed his partner. Only in France could a Police Superintendant get away with wearing the bright yellow sports jacket Belmondo wears here (or could he?) and his detective team are even worse, looking like sartorial escapees from a bad episode of Miami Vice. Outside the office Belmondo still favours the black leather jacket though, and the action is still pretty gritty, but backs off a bit from the dizzy heights of Le Marginal. And this time Belmondo does it by the book in the end, bringing the murderer to justice and resisting the urge to blow him away, despite being presented with the opportunity (excuse?) of favourable circumstances in which to do so with a clear concience. Perhaps the attitude was toned down to avoid further criticism from the liberal press of his vigilante stance in that earlier movie, rather like when the original "Harry" made some adjustments in his second outing in order demonstrate that he wasn't a complete red neck? However a Pug is no substitute for an armour plated Mustang!