11.6 - The French Job

The authentic tale of Toni Musulin, the security guard who got away, back in 2009, aboard the armored truck he drove. This story has already been filmed in 2011: 1,2,3 Voleurs, a TV movie. Pure crap, starring Nicolas Cazale, the Antonio Banderas's face like french actor.

This movie - 11.6 - is far better. It emphasizes about the true personality of the lead, played here by François Cluzet, who gives a powerful performance. Although this actor annoys me in his way of acting. But I talk here only of my own taste. He is a good actor, no matter the way I feel about him...

The character of Toni Musulin is very complex, weird, unforeseeable..

Like in Nicolas Boukrief's LE CONVOYEUR, back in 2004, the armored trucks security guards are shown here as jerks. For instance in the scene where we see one of them get laid with a prostitute in the back of the truck whilst his colleagues deliver the dol...

Why such a sequence?

So first off most reviews I read here are clearly misinformed or made by people who don't understand french. This movie is based on what the french media called the heist of the century or how a simple employee disappeared with 11.6 millions euros (approx $14Mil) without firing a shot The beauty of this true story is that Tony Musulin who was chased by Interpol in more than 185 countries finally surrendered (they couldn't find him) and spent only 4 years in jail. But 2.5 millions were never recovered.He was released in 2013.

So you will not be watching Ocean's Eleven or Lucky Logan here ... this is not a flashy action packed movie that tells a story written on a deck in Malibu. It's more like a documentary and psychological thriller.

What I really like about this movie is how the relationship between the characters are played, simple and sometimes chilling ... the way Muslin leave his wife shows what it takes and how real bad guys / psychopaths think in the real world. The movie emphasize the simplicity and dull reality of life no Hollywood balm.

Francois Cluzet is as usual fantastic.

If you like movies based on cold hard facts I would also recommend The adversary (L'adversaire) which is another too true to script real story.

In Paris, the methodic security guard Toni Musulin (François Cluzet) has worked as driver of armored truck of the IBRIS Company for ten years. He lives a loveless marriage with Marion (Corinne Masiero) and works with his best friend Arnaud (Bouli Lanners). His salary is low and Toni usually works overtime to increase his income.

One day, Toni accidentally finds that his overtime is miscalculated and he discuss the subject with his arrogant boss that cares the least bit to his complaint and humiliates him. Toni seeks revenge against his boss plotting a heist exploring the fragility of the security system of IBRIS and he steals 11.6 million Euros that are transported in the armored truck.

"11.6" is a deceptive movie with a promising story but awful screenplay. François Cluzet is a great actor but his character is not well developed. The guy has an income of less than two thousand Euros per month but apparently has saved enough to buy a Ferrari exploiting his wife that works hard in her small restaurant and gives bed and food to him. He plans a heist, steals the money from the armored truck, hides the money in his garage, travels to Monaco to meet a woman that he saw once in a night-club and finally he gives himself up to the police. Toni seems to be a bad character, defrauding the insurance company and exploiting his wife, but he does neither use nor flee with the money. Therefore all the operation is only to pay his boss back for his mistreatment? My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "O Grande Assalto 11.6" ("The Great Heist 11.6")

Reality is stranger than fiction. Then again, if "fiction" adapts a real story is it even stranger? The movie might be an example of that. Very well played by its main actor (you might see him in other movies too), the movie is weird to say the least. The relationships between the characters are very realistic, but the motivation of the main character sometimes remains hidden.

If that is something you can handle and you like weird stories/movies, then this might be your thing exactly. The German title of the movie gives away what this is going to be about, but that doesn't matter much, because you get the sense where this is going. Another reviewer wrote this is a remake, I cannot confirm that, so I'm not sure/aware of any other movie existing in the same vein

I give stars basically as to how much I enjoyed a movie. All sorts of other factors will matter to me, but at the end of the day it all adds up to enjoyment. I really enjoyed 11.6. The movie had a great sense of workplace honesty, had realistic relationship scenes, broke the suburban monotony periodically with the outdoors (using good framing and good cameras), and all was delivered by great actors brilliantly cast. There were levels of interest for me. For example, there was a bit of an Of Mice And Men thing going on with a co-worker. The marriage relationship was distinctly odd, but strangely compelling. That aspect could have been an indie movie in of itself. This is a strange tale about a strange man, as well as a stranger than fiction tale, and the filmmakers here have delivered the story with great sympathy and respect.