Too much of everything

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

best movie i've ever seen.

A different way of telling a story

Bob le Flambeur review: The plot was a complex saga. The film captured some brief shots of Paris in a noir mood. It gave a classic sensation to the picture. The movie didn't have a gripping tone. The characters had a deep nature that was underneath the surface. In addition I loved the vehicles that were driven for an example, the Cat-lax, and other stylish 1950s vehicles. I am in shock that Jean-Pierre Melville had directed that movie because it wasn't as great like his other titles such as 'Le Doulos' and 'A cop'. I was supremely disappointed. Sadly the substance was weak. But then again it was the picture he had choreographed before those two films in the 1950s. That title didn't have enough scenes of pure French scenery unfortunately. The costume and production designing could of been at it rich climax. But on the other hand my ears were trapped when I heard the Jazz soundtrack that was played by expensive instruments. I could easily tale that it had a powerful Hollywood inspiration. It had a strong French style I give the motion picture a 5 ½ 10

The title character is an aging gambler and supposedly reformed gangster who finds himself on a losing streak and decides to rob a casino. As is the case with most films of Melville, the pace is leisurely - too much so. To the fans of the director, he can do no wrong, but he spends too much time on mundane events. Hardly anything happens for the first third of the film. The plan for the robbery is then put into motion and things become a bit interesting but it is not well sustained. The main attraction here is the alluring Corey, making her film debut as an oversexed teen. Apparently the young actress was plucked from the streets by the director.

A gambler (Bob) down on his luck agrees to a heist. As another reviewer noted you have the typical thug ecology with split loyalties informers and trouble making women and in this one a well meaning cop.The moral of the movie is to never tell anyone particularly a female anything about your business.It is boiler plate good... so gets a 6 nothing really unusually good about it. Sort of like a decent novel but not one by Graham Greene which would net a 7.I enjoy the reviews that suggest other avenues to explore; Netflix streaming doesn't have the cream of crop but you can find good sleepers and others not in high demand. Plus the real advantage: you can stop watching a dog.

Bob le flambeur (1956) **** (out of 4) Outstanding heist film about an old-time gangster and gambler (Roger Duchesne) who finds himself broke when he hears that a casino will have a large sum of cash available for the taking. Even though his friends and even the police warn him against it, he decides to try for one last heist. The French noir genre seems to be growing more and more popular each passing year as film buffs continue to check out new, forgotten or need-to-be rediscovered films from the genre. I came to this one first as I had heard it was one of the greatest and it's somewhat hard to imagine, after seeing it, that anything else could really come close. Everything runs so smoothly that one can't help but be entertained by the events going on and especially the noir-ish acts of always blaming the women for everything that goes wrong. This film comes off so fresh and original that one can't help but imagine what it must have been like in 1956 when this stuff really was ground breaking. One of the many positive aspects is the terrific cinematography that constantly has the film floating around and really giving us a great look at the streets, the casino and various other important things for the plot. The way the music score just blends in so well with the cinematography is certainly "New Wave" but it still looks fresh all these years later. Melville's screenplay also offers up some terrific dialogue that really puts you in the middle of what's going on to the point where you feel as if you really are watching real professionals getting ready to pull off a heist. What also stands out are the performances with Duchesne who is wonderful in the title role. I really loved the laid back approach to the character and felt Duchesne had so much energy building up inside of him you couldn't help but keep your eyes on him and watch every little thing he did. Daniel Cauchy, Andre Garet and Gerard Buhr add nice support and it was fun seeing Howard Vernon in a small role years before his work with Jess Franco. Then we have Isabelle Corey who in my opinion steals the show. According to the IMDb she was only 16 when this was released but she certainly captures the sexuality of the role very well and she sizzles each time she is on the screen. It's certainly easy to see why these guys would fall all over her. I'm still very new to Melville but this here is certainly an impressive start and I look forward to checking out more of his work.