The Burglars (1972)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good movie but grossly overrated

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Dear Henry Verneuil, here is what you got right in Le Casse - The procedural safe cracking scene at the beginning was heart stopping. I liked the props used by Belmondo to crack the safe. The whole thing was meticulous, elaborate and well thought out. You were a bit of hack who was obviously inspired by the films of Jules Dassin and Jean Pierre Melville in capturing the minute details of a heist. The film also had one of the best car chases of all time. It is a really long and vicious car chase comparable to the ones in Bullit and French Connection. The score by Ennio Morricone was one of his best for a crime film (yes, even better than the ones he composed for Sicilian Clan and Revolver)and I liked the title sequence. The score was packed with some remarkable tunes. You had two great actors in Belmondo and Shariff pitted against each other. And some beautiful women who were to be used or slapped around by the men. Frankly, just like The Sicialian Clan, Le Casse had all the ingredients for a great crime flick.But here is what you got wrong - after a terrific first half, the film's second half was meandering and goofy. The plot developments were uninspired and preposterous (not in a good way). You tried to hide the lack of substance in the script with some stylish visuals and overuse of Morricone's score. Too much space was given to the two female leads who were nothing more than props in the first half. The cat and mouse relationship between Belmondo and Shariff was the most interesting part of the film. The women should have been in the background. Their characters were nothing more than bimbos. Also, the thrills and action scenes in the film's second half were markedly inferior to the ones in the first half.Like the final scene where Belmondo muses about the types of chicken dishes he has had, you wasted the diamonds which you had at hand. It was a great opportunity to craft another commercial crime classic like The Sicilian Clan, Henri. But instead you made a film that was only half good. Best Regards, Pimpin.(6/10)

The first twenty minutes of "The Burglars" concerns a highly complex and detailed home invasion/safe robbery, with four crooks in Greece making off with a million dollars worth of emeralds; unfortunately for them, the chief investigator on the case is playing both sides of the law, and he's onto them from the start. Based on David Goodis' novel "The Burglar", and previously filmed in the U.S. under that title in 1957, this caper has such a meticulously mounted set-up that it's a bit strange to have it change gears almost immediately into a chase-laden cat-and-mouse game (with amusingly derivative elements). Dyan Cannon is used as (very lovely) window-dressing, but the real flirting comes between master thief Jean-Paul Belmondo and crooked cop Omar Sharif (they share a Greek meal together that is so specific, it's hard to believe the intimate tension wasn't unintentional). Some of the action is truly hair-raising, and the film is generally good-natured and well-made, if familiar. **1/2 from ****

If there is anything worse than a film with too much style and little substance, it's a film that has neither of those things. "Le Casse" manages to be both boring and insipid, with dialogue scenes that don't mean anything, chase scenes that go on forever without ever becoming exciting (just like the speedboat chases in "Live And Let Die" for example) and characters so unlikable that there is nobody to root for. Only two positive qualities:OK acting and a gorgeous Dyan Cannon. (**)

I like this film especially because there is a great great great car race in the streets of Athens. I think this car fight is better than in "Bullit" (by Peter Yates with MacQueen). Jean-Paul Belmondo is simply very good.