Gomez & Tavarès

I never knew the French could make such cool movies. Laconic and violent, with obvious homages to the 1970s, "Gomez & Tavares" a.k.a. "Payoff" is full of action, blasts, and lots of fun. While the script may have some minor flaws around its edges (not grave though), this movie works just fine, with some fine acting, cool dialogue, excellent photography and brilliant editing (yes indeed!). The soundtrack (both the musical score and the sound effects track) deserves some a special mention for a job not just well done, but outstandingly done. This film looks and sounds much more expensive than it probably was. Even my girl-friend, The Brain, liked it, which I guess means that the movie is sort of smart. Never mind the signifier or the signified. This film is pure "parole". Enjoy.

For anyone who thinks that Mike and Marcus are too arrogant, too egotistical, too uncaring about the consequences of their actions, etc., well, you haven't seen nothing yet - Gomez and Tavarès make those "Bad Boys" look like model police officers! Our "heroes" in this movie are two obnoxious, chronically dirty cops, who try to solve their case not so much because they believe in "justice", but simply to make some (illegal) money, and avoid being sent to jail by the Internal Affairs guys by giving them bigger fish to fry. Some viewers may feel that the unlikability of the leads gives "Gomez & Tavarès" an edge over similar American films, while others may feel that it makes it harder to enjoy. In either case, this "action comedy" contains relatively little action and relatively little comedy. The production is slick and the climactic helicopter vs. speedboat chase is a decent set piece, but nothing you haven't seen many times before. It's the striking, sexy, green-eyed Noémie Lenoir who provides the film's brightest moments. (**)

Before being an action movie, this is a comedy. The cynical kind. Maybe not for everyone. And like any comedy, it HAS to be seen in original version. So, if you don't understand french, just don't watch it. Action and comedy are definitely not genres that french are good at, but this one is really good. A rare piece then. Titoff and Jean Yann are especially good in their character. Another reviewer said Titoff was "the best cop" in Marseille. Really he didn't understand anything of the movie. Titoff is on the contrary a total loser cop and really nailed it. Other actors are not doing as good a job, but still correct. Good humour, good action, good picture, smart ending.

I saw this movie at the German Fantasy Film Festival last year. The story starts with a typical buddy-movie setup: Tavares is a cop in Marseille. He is smart, somewhat good looking . and he is corrupt. Nevertheless nobody in the police department seems to care about his little misconducts. One day Tavares gets a new partner. Gomez is coming directly from Paris. He is one hundred per cent law-abiding and hates corruption. From the very first moment Tavares and Gomez are at each other's throats. But they have to work together. Investigating the murder of an accountant who was working for a drug cartel they have to protect his daughter who might be the key to bring down the syndicate. Eventually the mafia wants to eliminate the girl and the two cops. Let the havoc begin...

On the one hand `Payoff' reminded me of the light-hearted French action comedies of the Seventies I used to watch on TV when I was a kid (Belmondo's `L'Animal' comes to mind). On the other hand the movie clearly imitates modern American cop movies like `Bad Boys' or the `Lethal Weapon' series - especially when it comes to the visual style. Actually Marseille (the setting of the film) is presented as if it was Florida or California. The story might have its weak points and it also exploits a number of clichés, but there are lots of great action scenes and funny dialogues to keep you entertained.

Please, for your mental safety, stay far away from this awful movie! It's not even funny. Everything is failed. Director Gilles Paquet-Brenner tried to do like Michael Bay so he moved his camera at every image but he just managed to give us an headache. On stage, Titoff is not funny. On TV sets, he's just dumb. But on screen, it's catastrophic. He got dead cow eyes, he's unable to say a line with conviction,well i don't have enough words in English to tell you how Titoff is bad! The music is awful, the editing is terrible, the story has been written by a four years old kid,well, Gomez & Tavares, it's just a pain in the ass,the movie you don't want to see. Compare to it, VERCINGETORIX is a master piece!