Wow...what a cast--Catherine Deneuve and Alain Delon. With two such wonderful actors, I would sure expect a lot from this film. However, despite the movie's poster showing both actors and this being from a Catherine Deneuve DVD set, she doesn't even appear until well into the movie!
The film finds Delon some sort of world-class assassin. He works for Mr. Cox and the Organization--whatever that means. I assume it's organized crime but perhaps it's some governmental organization. Anyway, Delon is tiring of the jet set like of international assassinations and has decided to quit. However, Cox will hear nothing of it and begins sending flunkies and assassins to either convince Delon to un-retire or die. But Delon is too cool and too good at his craft and the plans fail.
In the meantime, Delon collects his money from his safe deposit box and asks a wacky lady who has been managing his money to tell him what she's invested it in. Oddly, she sunk all the money into a turkey farm! Once Delon disappears, he resurfaces in Normandy--at the turkey farm run by Deneuve. At this point, it's 30 minutes into the film when they meet. You assume they'll simply fall in love...but this isn't exactly correct, as Deneuve's character is already married--though the guy is a total jerk and alcoholic (who, incidentally, listens to the most god-awful style of jazz you could imagine). It's soon obvious that their marriage is a very unhappy one and before you can say 'idiot husband', Delon and Deneuve are making love like crazed weasels!
Some time passes (during which you really come to hate the husband). Suddenly, when Delon and Deneuve return home to the turkey farm, they find four assassins in the home--with guns and a great willingness to use them. They kill the husband (how convenient) but then Devenuve and Delon take them out--and flee the place, as more like them are soon to follow. However, when Delon goes to check for his hidden stash of money, it seems someone has been there first--and it's gone.
Eventually, Cox catches up to Delon. He offers to not only return the money but give him a bonus--provided he do one more job. In the meantime, they hold Deneuve prisoner to guarantee his cooperation. But who is this target and will they really allow him to walk with his money? Tune in and see for yourself.
To me, this is like two separate movies that are uncomfortably merged. The first is a super-cool thriller about a mega-cool assassin. I loved this part of the film and enjoyed Delon's cold and cool demeanor. the second is a romance--which, to me, seemed forced and unnecessary. I really think the film could have been better had they stuck with the assassin film alone--keeping it more focused and consistent with Delon's character. As it was, his relationship with Deneuve seemed improbable and out of character--as Delon never showed any signs of being a nice guy up until then--just tough and very professional. In fact, all the parts with Deneuve seemed to slow down the film tremendously--and I wanted more of the cool assassin. This part of the film sure reminded me of another excellent Delon film, "Le Samourai"--and I wanted to see much more like it. Overall, it's worth seeing--but terribly uneven. It could have been great.
By the way, when the guy is shot in the pool, where is the blood?! Watch this scene and see what I mean.
The film finds Delon some sort of world-class assassin. He works for Mr. Cox and the Organization--whatever that means. I assume it's organized crime but perhaps it's some governmental organization. Anyway, Delon is tiring of the jet set like of international assassinations and has decided to quit. However, Cox will hear nothing of it and begins sending flunkies and assassins to either convince Delon to un-retire or die. But Delon is too cool and too good at his craft and the plans fail.
In the meantime, Delon collects his money from his safe deposit box and asks a wacky lady who has been managing his money to tell him what she's invested it in. Oddly, she sunk all the money into a turkey farm! Once Delon disappears, he resurfaces in Normandy--at the turkey farm run by Deneuve. At this point, it's 30 minutes into the film when they meet. You assume they'll simply fall in love...but this isn't exactly correct, as Deneuve's character is already married--though the guy is a total jerk and alcoholic (who, incidentally, listens to the most god-awful style of jazz you could imagine). It's soon obvious that their marriage is a very unhappy one and before you can say 'idiot husband', Delon and Deneuve are making love like crazed weasels!
Some time passes (during which you really come to hate the husband). Suddenly, when Delon and Deneuve return home to the turkey farm, they find four assassins in the home--with guns and a great willingness to use them. They kill the husband (how convenient) but then Devenuve and Delon take them out--and flee the place, as more like them are soon to follow. However, when Delon goes to check for his hidden stash of money, it seems someone has been there first--and it's gone.
Eventually, Cox catches up to Delon. He offers to not only return the money but give him a bonus--provided he do one more job. In the meantime, they hold Deneuve prisoner to guarantee his cooperation. But who is this target and will they really allow him to walk with his money? Tune in and see for yourself.
To me, this is like two separate movies that are uncomfortably merged. The first is a super-cool thriller about a mega-cool assassin. I loved this part of the film and enjoyed Delon's cold and cool demeanor. the second is a romance--which, to me, seemed forced and unnecessary. I really think the film could have been better had they stuck with the assassin film alone--keeping it more focused and consistent with Delon's character. As it was, his relationship with Deneuve seemed improbable and out of character--as Delon never showed any signs of being a nice guy up until then--just tough and very professional. In fact, all the parts with Deneuve seemed to slow down the film tremendously--and I wanted more of the cool assassin. This part of the film sure reminded me of another excellent Delon film, "Le Samourai"--and I wanted to see much more like it. Overall, it's worth seeing--but terribly uneven. It could have been great.
By the way, when the guy is shot in the pool, where is the blood?! Watch this scene and see what I mean.