O Marginal

The four star I have given to it is just because of the camerawork. That is (was) very good. However, even Ennio Morricone went way bellow of his standard with this one.

The script is so bad, full of holes, you wonder 'How did we get here?' Broad shoulders, balls dividing in tight jeans, and that famous grin after beating up criminals.

This is Belmondo at his lowest.

For me this movie seems a little chaotic, it mostly jumps from scene to scene and doesn't follow theme line very accurately. Still, it's entertaining movie for action or cop movie fans. At time of original release this was an excellent action film, but for time being action movies are at totally new level. Therefore don't expect too much. This movie has some good points thought. First of all, we see very good starting actor, young Tchéky Karyo here. Second, for car fans there is a car chase scene with Ford Mustang. Third, Belmondo makes his own stunts. Quite interesting is also to watch the first orange bullet train speeding in France! It's a little nostalgic to see this movie. I would say that after every 15 years or so, it is fun to see it again

Just as Jean-Paul Belmondo's THE PROFESSIONAL (1981) recalled the Charles Bronson 'loner' action vehicles, this one evokes memories of Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry" cop shows…which, by extension, connects it to the Italian poliziotteschi – of which the American co-star of THE OUTSIDER, Henry Silva, was a regular! Anyway, Belmondo is a maverick cop up against drug kingpin Silva: he intercepts a consignment of heroin (chasing the speedboat transporting it via helicopter), but the criminal's influence with city officials gets him transferred from Marseille to a low-life district! As was the case with the earlier film, the credits take care to establish the fact that the ageing star performed his own (often dangerous) stunts; in fact, every fifteen minutes or so, he's seen getting into a scuffle, a chase or a shoot-out – without necessarily advancing the main plot.

Still, in spite of the protagonist's superficial nonchalance, he's shown to have a heart: befriending a hooker, saving a convict's teenage daughter from life as a junkie, and paternally overseeing the 'legitimate' activity of a young small-time crook; when the latter opposes Silva's offer of 'protection' and winds up dead, the conflict between policeman and racketeer becomes a personal one. Mind you, the overall handling is anything but subtle – and blatantly commercial (why else would we be treated to the excess of sleaze on display, including an irrelevant excursion at a gay club?)! The film features another Ennio Morricone score which virtually hinges on a single catchy riff, though it's not quite as haunting as his work on THE PROFESSIONAL. The R2 DVD I rented also featured an Audio Commentary by director Deray which was, unfortunately, unsubtitled and enticing theatrical trailers for two other films Belmondo made for director Philippe De Broca, LE MAGNIFIQUE (1973) and L'INCORRIGIBLE (1975).

Belmondo is a tough cop. He goes after a big-time drug dealer (played by Henry Silva, normally a great villain - see "Sharky's Machine"; but here he is clearly dubbed, and because of that he lacks his usual charisma). He goes to the scuzziest places of Paris and Marseilles, asks for some names, beats up some people, gets the names, goes to more scuzzy places, asks for more names, beats up more people, etc. The whole movie is punch after punch after punch. It seems that the people who made it had no other ambition than to create the French equivalent of "Dirty Harry". Belmondo, who was 50 here, does perform some good stunts at the beginning; apart from those, "Le Marginal" is a violent, episodic, trite, shallow and forgettable cop movie. (*1/2)

I'm a huge fanatic of harsh, gritty and excessively violent cop thrillers from the 70's and early 80's. You know, those flicks with one macho copper solving cases through using hugely unorthodox methods (much against the will of his supervisors) and stumbling upon complex networks and internal corruption. The rudimentary plot is always secondary to the charisma of the lead character, the obligatory virulent car chases, the hardcore violence and the exciting soundtrack. The most famous films are American, like "Dirty Harry" starring Clint Eastwood and "The French Connection" starring Gene Hackman, but over in Europe there was quite a vast number of nasty cop thrillers as well. Most of them were made in Italy, obviously, but the French had Jean-Paul Belmondo! He depicts the ideal macho copper who – dressed in a leather jacket and jeans – singlehandedly pulverizes the Paris-Marseille drug cartel. I'm not at all familiar with Belmondo's work (or at least, not yet) but he boosts the exact right balance between arrogance and utter coolness. Belmondo plays the Parisian police commissioner Philippe Jordan, sent to Marseille to help the local police force with deconstructing the drug business led by Mr. Meccacci. Jordon's methods are effective but slightly nonconformist, like throwing 200kg heroine into the sea. Due to Meccacci's political influences, Jordon is transferred back to Paris, but as a desk clerk in a sleazy red light district. Still he doesn't give up his battle against Meccacci, especially not when his henchmen annihilate one of Jordan's personal friends. There are some impressive action sequences, like the helicopter vs. the speedboat sequence and the wild chase through Paris with an awesome and bulletproof Ford Mustang. The fact that J.P. Belmondo apparently did all of his stunt work himself makes it even more impressive, as some of that stuff looked quite dangerous. The great and heavily underrated Henry Silva portrays the relentless drug baron/super villain, but he's criminally underused and his voice is horribly dubbed. The score is nice but not exceptional and definitely not Ennio Morricone's best work. Overall I certainly cannot say I was displeased with my very first acquaintance with Jean-Paul Belmondo and I'm already curious to check out the other film of his I have lying around; "The Professional".