Cop or Hood

Georges Lautner's film keeps Belmondo exactly where audiences wanted him: as Commissioner Borowitz, infiltrating the Nice underworld, hiding his identity and more at ease than anyone he faces. It is less a police thriller than a showcase built around one performer, and Belmondo works without a stunt double and makes no secret of it. The project began when Michel Audiard introduced Belmondo to Lautner, and Audiard's approach to dialogue sets the tone throughout: sardonic, fast, full of scenes in which characters defeat each other verbally. Michel Galabru is in the cast. Alain Poiré, who produced most of Lautner's films, produced this one for Gaumont. It opened on 28 March 1979 and sold three million nine hundred and fifty thousand tickets in France, making it the third most attended film of the year, ahead of both Moonraker and Superman. Who it is for: viewers who enjoy Belmondo's popular seventies thrillers and French action comedy. Who it is not for: anyone looking for a tight crime plot or character depth.