The Connection (2015)
Newly transferred to the bustling port city of Marseille to assist with a crackdown on organized crime, energetic young magistrate Pierre Michel is given a rapid-fire tutorial on the ins and outs of an out-of-control drug trade. Pierre's wildly ambitious mission is to take on the French Connection, a highly organized operation that controls the city's underground heroin economy and is overseen by the notorious —and reputedly untouchable— Gaetan Zampa. Fearless, determined and willing to go the distance, Pierre plunges into an underworld world of insane danger and ruthless criminals.
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Sorry, this movie sucks
Absolutely the worst movie.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
In the many reviews and description of the movie, it is mentioned that Pierre Michel is a detective. That is wrong. Pierre Michel was a judge, which is very different from a detective. Was Pierre Michel doing a detective work? Well it could be considered as yes, but his main work position was being a judge.
"The Connection" is a dull crime flick with many of the usual clichés, eg. a cop who can't do what he needs to do to catch the bad guy because of the bureaucracy in his way, and his obsession with the case straining his home life and making his wife leave him. How many times have we seen these things, and through the lens of a wobbly camera to boot? The main character is a cliché and it is impossible to care anything about him. Instead I felt sorry for the actor trying his darnedest with material so trite.In one scene the cops arrest a guy who was just about the kill the bad guy for them. The movie doesn't even acknowledge this. It's like it's on a completely different page to the viewer. If you were police after a crimelord, and you had to stop someone you knew was probably going to kill the crimelord and himself in the process, wouldn't you be a bit frustrated that the constraints of your job stopped you from letting one problem solve another? Wouldn't the crimelord express mocking gratitude? This was a point of connection with the audience the movie squanders completely.One of the few interesting points in this movie is that the actor playing the good guy and the actor playing the bad guy look almost identical. I couldn't tell them apart. They have the same features, same haircut, everything. The bad guy is slightly shorter than the good guy. That was my only way of telling them apart.As for telling the movie apart from any other cops vs criminals movie, you're on your own.
This really could have been made in the 70s. It does feel like it from beginning til the end. It's also the spiritual "brother" (or partner in crime if you forgive the pun) of the "French Connection". And while the first FC played in America and the second was based in France, this plays entirely in France and shows what the French were doing in the war against drugs.Jean Dujardin has proved, that he is more than just a comedic actor, he has the charisma to pull any role off, even this tough one. But he has some more than solid french talent to help him along the way. It's bleak, it's tension filled and it does not disappoint at all. Though I'm sure some will have issues with the ending, but you can't please everyone
This is the other half of the story of seventies classic - 'The French Connection. Jean Dujardin ('The Artist') plays Magistrate Pierre Michel who in 1974 gets promoted to deal with organised crime in Marseilles. Gilles Lellouche ('Mea Culpa' and 'Mesrine') plays the drugs uber lord 'Tany' – who rules with an iron fist and any other implement that can come to hand. He runs a crime network that includes night clubs, casinos and restaurants and will do anything to keep what he has and make tons more cashThis is one of those times when crims made so much money that they could buy their way out of trouble – even before they were in it. So inevitably Michel has more than the crooks to do battle with. It follows the story from the mid seventies and into the eighties and it is one helluva ride.The period detail is excellent, the cars, fashions and the music are all spot one – even the decor. There is violence and plenty of potty mouth goings on, but it is all in context. It is also a stylish film that means that most shots are great to look at as well as being intensely entertaining. This is a film that should get a lot more attention and if you are a stranger to French cinema it may be a good one to start with to see just how well they can make them.