Hold-Up

Filmed in Montréal, this movie tells the story of three friendly bandits who steal a bank. Jean-Paul Belmondo is funny as the leader of the trio. I have seen this movie 5 or 6 times and never get tired of it. It's still funny after all that time. Look for cameos by French-Canadian actors Yvan Ponton, Guy Provost, Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Francis Reddy and Yves Jacques.

7 out 10.

1985 comedy heist movie. Starring Jean Paul Belmondo. I watched this movie on TV in the 90's. The robbery sounded brilliant to me. Now that I watched it, I said that for years, I had a completely different movie setup in my head. The movie contained a ton of nonsense. I have memorized it because the robber continues throughout the movie, and I note that the clown is constantly being a clown. After watching it again, the whole spell was broken. Belmondo also showed a very weak acting in this movie.

There is nudity in the movie but no sexuality. In the films of that period, especially in French films, there is no film without clarity.

I found out about this film from "Quick Change" with Bill Murray (1990). Both "Quick Change" and "Hold-Up" are film adaptations of "Quick Change" by Jay Cronley. But I'm not here for a history lesson.

"Hold-Up" is truly a comedy gem. Francis Veber serving as one of the script writers certainly helps this. Story-wise (I won't give any spoilers), the first act of the movie that takes place in the bank is almost the same as the remake movie. Both versions of the bank robbery are very fun to watch. What really makes "Hold-Up" stand out from the Bill Murray movie is the second act.

Although I love Bill Murray as an actor, I can firmly say that "Quick Change" was simply unbearable to watch. It gets old and stale after the bank robbery. The same thing happened to me when I tried reading the book. I suppose I can praise the makers of "Quick Change" for sticking close to the source material, but it won't help much if the book itself blows. And no matter how many celebrity cameos there are in that film, it doesn't help it.

"Hold-Up" shows us a lot more of the character's personalities. Kim Cattrall's portrayal as Lise shows us this demanding confident woman who makes her own choices in the end. In the original book and the second movie, she is simply the generic side-woman that "oos" and "ahhs" at the leading man. And speaking of leading man, Jean-Paul Belmondo pulls off an excellent Grimm, along with Guy Marchand as the sidekick (who plays the part of the sidekick with more dignity than Randy Quaid did). The late Tex Konig also gives a memorable performance as the truck driver who is desperate to get his dough, as well as an amusing cameo from Jacques Villert as the taxi driver. And it all ends with a wonderful and delightful twist!

The music is also less repetitive than the remake. This film does, however, use a musical snippet (Liza's Road) many times during the film, though cleverly played in different speeds and instruments; it achieves a continuous soundtrack that isn't typical 80's cop drama music played over and over and over again.

To make a long story short (too late), if you HAVEN'T seen "Hold-Up" - WATCH IT! Even if that means getting a region-free DVD player. It's WORTH IT! This film needs to get "out there" more!

This is an earlier French film version of Bill Murray's QUICK CHANGE (1988) which was here adapted by distinguished screenwriter Francis Veber (its American appeal extends to the attractive Montreal locations and a title song in English!). Jean-Paul Belmondo, at 52, is pretty wacky as the bank robber-dressed-as-clown. The supporting cast is not very well-known but the main characters (Belmondo's meek partner, his police nemesis and his disgruntled ex-cellmate) are all played with gusto; also featured in the film as the love interest (of sorts) is future Hollywood starlet Kim Cattrall.

Having only read a negative review of it on the "Films De France" website, I found the film to be quite engaging overall with a surprisingly consistent first half; it does peter out eventually but is enlivened again in its latter stages by the appearance of the fat cab driver (Jacques Villeret). Alexandre Arcady is a new name for me but his half-hour interview on the R2 DVD supplements is fairly interesting (albeit if only in French) as he says that Belmondo violently bumped his head while performing one of the film's stunts himself; also worth watching was the featurette seeing celebrated stunt co-ordinator Remy Julienne rehearsing the scene in which Belmondo's car breaks into another bank through the front glass facade.

I like French movies generally, but this one is really great! The plot is unique enough, you just wonder, what`s going on next. Belmondo (plays the main character) is one of my most favourite actors at all. He`s funny and sympathique. And Kim Cattrall is very, very sexy... There are movies I can see over and over. Hold-Up is one of them!