Le Beauf (1987) - film review

Gilbert has settled into a humdrum life.  To support his family, he works for a bank where his sole task is to operating a machine which incinerates banknotes.  One evening, an old friend, Serge, turns up on his doorstep.   In their youth, Gilbert and Serge belonged to a rock band and their friendship is as keen as ever.  Gilbert willingly agrees to accompany Serge to a hotel with a suitcase filled with banknotes, believing his friend is involved in some legitimate business deal.  When, through his neglect, the suitcase is stolen, Gilbert is forced into agreeing to help Serge in a scheme to rob the bank where he works.  Gilbert soon realises he is being duped.  An opportunity to take revenge proves to be too irresistible...

Gérard Jugnot’s engaging performance brings a genuine human dimension to what would otherwise have been a pretty routine heist movie.  Jugnot is perhaps better known for his ebullient comic performances, in such films as Le Père noel est une ordure (1982), but films like Le Beauf show that he is also very capable as a straight actor, bringing great pathos and humanity to his portrayals of down-trodden "little men".  Yves Amoureux’s confident direction makes Le Beauf an appealing crime drama, in which the suspense elements are nicely counter-pointed by some wry comic touches.

© James Travers 2006

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