Pour la peau d'un flic

In Paris, the ex-cop Choucas (Alain Delon) is a private detective that works with a mysterious partner, Tarpon, and the secretary Charlotte (Anne Parillaud). He is presently working in an embezzlement case of an employee of the pharmacist Jude (Pierre Belot). When the middle-aged Isabelle Pigot (Annick Alane) hires him to investigate the disappearance of her blind twenty year-old daughter Marthe Pigot (Ariele Semenoff) that worked at the Drillard Foundation for blinds, the Police Inspector Coccioli (Daniel Ceccaldi) seeks Choucas out and asks him to drop the case. But Choucas proceeds with the investigation and schedules an encounter with Isabelle in a square, but she is murdered with a shot on the forehead. Chouca continues to investigate and soon the dirty Chief Inspector Madrier (Jacques Pisias) tries to kill Chouca, but he is only wounded and kills the inspector in self-defense. Then two criminals abduct Chouca but he succeeds to escape. He meets his secret partner, the retired Chief of Police Haymann (Michel Auclair), and Charlotte and they disclose a case of narcotics. Further, Choucas learns that he has been manipulated by Coccioli and other Chiefs of Police.

"Pour la peau d'un flic" is a violent, funny and complex story of murder and manipulation in the debut of Alain Delon as director. He follows the genre of Jean-Pierre Melville, and the movie has violence, murder, rape, torture but with humor. Anne Parillaud shines in the role of the cynical and funny cinephile Charlotte. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Na Pele de um Tira" ("In the Skin of a Cop")

I do enjoy a good Alain Delon thriller, unfortunately this is not a good Alain Delon thriller. It would be slightly better without the accompanying music - a couple of songs that are just annoying. Like bad Tom Waits.

The plot is ludicrous, the acting perfunctory. There is predictable romance and nudity as you'd expect from a 1981 flic movie.

Disappointed really.

Obviously I'll watch anything with Tyrone Power or Alain Delon, but even I surprised myself with this. And I enjoyed it! Of course.

First off, may I say again that if there's anything I hate it's dubbing. Here Delon sounded like Robert Conrad. Everyone spoke English with American accents although the film takes place in France.

Someone here saw it in French because when Delon is injured and screams, his secretary tells him Burt Lancaster would never scream like that. The person who reviewed it said the name used was Belmondo. I wish I'd seen it in French.

Ex-cop Choucas, now a PI, is presently working on an embezzlement case at a pharmacist's. Then Isabelle Pigot hires him to investigate the disappearance of her blind daughter, Marthe Pigot, who worked at a foundation for the blind. Police Inspector Coccioli urges him to drop the case. But Choucas doesn't.

Choucas not only witnesses a killing, but is nearly killed himself, wounded, fights off two men in his office, and then his secretary is abducted. It doesn't seem as if anyone wants him to find Marthe.

Most of this film is a routine PI film, but it has humor, some good action, a little romance, and a bang-up finale. Delon is so sexy - and he wears the tightest pair of jeans I've ever seen. In fact, here his body has matured and the jeans push up some skin...when he shows his secretary where he was wounded, his short is off; he pulls the jeans down a little and sucks in that gut for all it's worth. Just a little trivia: This was something they always taught actors who stood in profile, but they don't seem to do it any longer. Dick Powell turned down the TV show Richard Diamond because "I can't hold my stomach in for 28 weeks."

Anyway, an enjoyable film.

Despite some extreme violence (shootings at close range, rape of one of the main characters), there is a surprising amount of humor in this picture. I wonder if this was Delon's way of moving away from the sometimes humorless approach taken in his films with J-P Melville. It also features a nice performance by a very young Anne Parillaud.

Ex-cop is after a drug pusher gang. Completely average thriller starring and directed by Alain Delon. If you don't feel like losing or winning anything, watch this film. A short cameo by beautiful French actress Brigitte Lahaie might get many a heart pumping. Apart from that, the movie isn't too exciting. At least it's not really boring.