Comedy / Drama / Crime 
Review / Analysis
The crime thriller has been a popular target for parody in France ever since the heyday
of the genre in the 1950s. Whilst Cible émouvante is an entertaining
film with many plus points, it adds little in the way of originality or style to what
has gone before it. The plot is infuriatingly predictable, the writer appearing
to take the obvious course at ever turn, and the film ends up appearing to parody itself.
Fortunately, the film is mercifully short and ends way before it could have become tedious.
The film’s main strength lies in the wonderful interactions between the three lead actors. Jean Rochefort, better known for straight roles as the archetypal hard man of the French film noir (or ‘polar’) genre, shows an endearing flair for comedy and contributes most to the film’s great comic moments. Marie Trintignant is Rochefort’s unlikely co-star, less convincing but giving an amusingly feisty performance. Caught in the middle is young Guillaume Depardieu (son of Gérard), often outrageously funny in his familiar gawping way; female devotees of the actor will certainly not be disappointed.
© James Travers 1999
Write a review for this film...
The film’s main strength lies in the wonderful interactions between the three lead actors. Jean Rochefort, better known for straight roles as the archetypal hard man of the French film noir (or ‘polar’) genre, shows an endearing flair for comedy and contributes most to the film’s great comic moments. Marie Trintignant is Rochefort’s unlikely co-star, less convincing but giving an amusingly feisty performance. Caught in the middle is young Guillaume Depardieu (son of Gérard), often outrageously funny in his familiar gawping way; female devotees of the actor will certainly not be disappointed.
© James Travers 1999
Write a review for this film...
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Synopsis
Whilst on an assignment, professional hitman Victor Meynard runs into a delivery boy,
Antoine. Unable to kill the adolescent, Meynard adopts him as his accomplice, in
spite of Antoine’s evident lack of enthusiasm for his new career. They are hired
by a Corsican gangster to kill a con artist Renée Dandrieux for palming off a fake
painting. Again, Meynard’s luck is against him, and when he fails to kill Renée,
with Antoine’s help, the Corsican gangster sends another hitman to kill all three of them...
© filmsdefrance.com 2012
© filmsdefrance.com 2012
Credits
- Director: Pierre Salvadori
- Script: Pierre Salvadori
- Photo: Gilles Henry
- Music: Philippe Eidel
- Cast: Jean Rochefort (Victor Meynard), Marie Trintignant (Renée Dandrieux), Guillaume Depardieu (Antoine), Patachou (Mme. Meynard), Wladimir Yordanoff (Casa Bianca), Serge Riaboukine (Manu), Charlie Nelson (Dremyan), Philippe Girard (Tony), Christophe Odent (Girard), Daniel Laloux (Expert), Philippe Harel (Barnabe), Pascal Pistacio (Roland Balto), François Toumarkine (Butcher), Patrick Zard (Le réceptionniste), Thierry Balcon (Gardien de nuit), Jacques Monnet (Painter), Jean-Noël Fenwick (Diamond Merchant), Olga Baïdar-Poliakoff (Vielle dame), Julien Cafaro (Cheese Seller), Guy Reboul (Chanteur corse), Antoine Parenti (Chanteur corse), Ours Paul Bertolucci (Chanteur corse), Marie-Eve Dufresne (La doublure lumière)
- Country: France
- Language: French
- Support: Color
- Runtime: 87 min
- Aka: Wild Target
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