Le Marginal (1983) - film review

Commissaire Philippe Jordan is determined to crush a notorious drugs syndicate run by the elusive magnate Sauveur Meccacci.  His methods are far from orthodox, however, and his one-man crusade is not appreciated by his police colleagues...

With its colossal budget, big star names (Belomondo and Silva), spectacular stunts and unbelievable action scenes, Le Marginal is a lavish French crime thriller which easily rivals similar extravaganzas from Hollywood.  But that is really all there is.  There is little in the way of originality, the plot is both dull and predictable, characterisation is virtually non-existent and there is a distinct lack of those characteristics which distinguish the French thriller from its American counterpart (wit, charm, a certain poetry, and irony). Le Marginal is merely an unashamed attempt to compete with the American blockbuster action thriller on its own ground, although it does rather a good job of doing so.

Jean-Paul Belmondo plays the film’s lead character, a tough maverick with a sentimental streak, the role which Belmondo had made his own in the preceding decade.  Whilst the actor is beginning to look a little too long in the tooth to be playing this kind of action hero, he is still impressive, oozing charisma and throwing himself (literally) into the most incredible death-defying stunts.  It was undoubtedly the actor’s popularity at the time which assured the film’s staggering success in France.  Within its first week of exploitation, Le Marginal had attracted nearly half a million spectators, a record which has rarely been broken since.

© James Travers 2001

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