Victor Meynard (Jean Rochefort) is a seasoned, aging contract killer with a hesitant sexuality, under his mother's thumb. But his future could be symbolized by a young, naive dispatch rider Antoine (Guillaume Depardieu) whom he wants to initiate to his job. For his next contract, he has to kill a young female thief, Renée Darieux (Marie Trintignant) who is hunted down by a gang of baddies but unplanned circumstances lead him to protect her and to take refuge in his house. Victor is torn down between two alternatives: should he fulfill his pledges and get rid of Renée or should he let love prevail for her?
Pierre Salvadori may be a minor director, his films bear the mark of a personal work with nothing intellectual or pretentious in them and they should deserve more recognition in the guide of films by Jean Tulard in which each of his efforts has only one star out of four. "Cible Emouvante" has enough valuable assets to justify its screening. First, Salvadori's first effort eschews in the major part of the film, an ultra-mapped master plan and is straddling several genres. Thus, the onset of the film might let the viewer think that the film will be based on the formation of Antoine to the job by Victor. But later, the director changes way and follows the three main characters trying to escape the Casa Bianca gang who runs after Renée. The two gangs will rub shoulders in a chic hotel. And finally, Salvadori steers his work on another way when Victor, Antoine and Renée wind up in Victor's house. Investigations from the Casa Bianca gang, chases and suspense take a back seat and perhaps the chief key of the film is Victor's personality. This man goes through emotional turmoil and doesn't know how to come to terms with Antoine and Renée who force him to question himself about his job and his life.
These different directions deftly mesh without major clumsiness. Pierre Salvadori wields black humor and maintains laughter thanks to a shrewd scenario in which he weaves preposterous, hilarious sequences. And he eschews some predictable moments through unexpected schemes. And let's not forget potent cues. At last, a delineation of the characters contributes to the pleasure of the film between the finally fragile Victor, the naive Antoine and the neurotic Renée. Guillaume Depardieu and Marie Trintignant will meet again in the director's two subsequent works: "les Apprentis" (1995) and "Comme Elle Respire" (1998).
Don't expect something astounding but a gratifying, refreshing black comedy with a sense of unpredictable.
