Association de malfaiteurs is a French comedy thriller film first released in 1987, directed by Claude Zidi.  The film stars François Cluzet, Christophe Malavoy, Jean-Pierre Bisson, Claire Nebout and Gérard Lecaillon.  It has also been released under the title: Association Of Wrongdoers.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


Whilst his three former college friends – Thierry, Gérard and Francis – have made successful careers for themselves in business, Daniel has yet to make the grade.  Tired of Daniel’s frequent attempts to drag them into ill-considered ventures, Thierry and Gérard decide to play a cruel trick on him – making him think he has won the national lottery.  The joke backfires when Daniel, believing he is now a wealthy man, signs a development contract with the unscrupulous Bernard.  With no way of cancelling the contract, Thierry, Gérard and Francis are obliged to come to Daniel’s rescue, by stealing the safe which contains the signed documents.  They are surprised to find the safe contains a fortune in French francs, and even more surprised when Bernard reports the theft to the police…

François Cluzet and Christophe Malavoy are on fine form in this fast-moving action thriller, which includes some bizarre yet satisfying comic turns.  Its director is Claude Zidi, best known for his earlier film Les Ripoux (1984) and its sequels.  Whilst the plot is muddled and unconvincing in parts, Association de malfaiteurs works as a piece of escapist fun, and the action sequences are arguably amongst Claude Zidi’s best.

© James Travers 2006

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