It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

A classy but not entirely successful crime thriller from director Claude Lelouch. Jean-Louis Trintignant stars as career criminal who, after being busted for kidnapping a child, escapes from jail and is bent on getting revenge on one of his turncoat cohorts (to say anymore would spoil things). Trintignant is dynamite as a seedy, amoral louse who'll stop at nothing as he arrogantly eludes police capture. He's supported by the likes of Daniele Delorme (whose case of Stockholm syndrome hits very quickly), Christine Lelouch, Charles Gérard and Amidou as a not-so- trustful gun salesman. Best of all is Charles Denner as the very nervous father of the kidnap victim. There's some pretty hyperactive music by Francis Lai that really can't mask the fact that not much is happening during the film's first half. The plot kicks in and the film's second half is very enjoyable. Lelouch did the cinematography as well...as he's done for a number of his films.

Thanks to other reviewers on IMDb. I picked up this pleasant surprise. The opening musical had me worried a little. But soon the clever plot revealed itself. This movie is witty and funny, several steps above a lot of Hollywood movies in the same genre today. It still looks incredibly fresh today.The flashback is so seamlessly inserted that I watched the movie again just to find out exactly where it begins. There are moments that make you smile or laugh out loud: the movie-in-movie poking fun at the genre, the mentioning of LeLouch's another film – "un home et une femme", the kidnapping plot, the little details about the characters,etc. LeLouch's direction is fluid and stylish. The naturalistic acting is great and spot-on from the top down. I didn't know that Trintignant could be funny!!! In this movie, he is charismatic, charming, and ruthless all at once and never once goes over the top or shows any movie star self-awareness we usually see today.This is a fantastic movie that can be watched again and again.

Lelouche and Trintignant combine for a deft, lighter touch than their normal weighty collaborations. Full of wry touches, there is never a pause in the mind's contribution and nothing conventional to help you catch your breath. This is the kind of movie that you wish Hollywood could make but it never does, full of layers of complexity and wit, this mini-masterpiece improves with each repeated viewing.

This is a film that I remember fondly from the 70s. A great caper movie with several twists and turns. Betrayal and counter betrayal and a conclusion that makes you laugh out loud! Usually a serious actor in political or psychological films - Jean Louis T. tries some lighter than air 'hey-presto' and proves that he can do comedy as well. I wish more people would know this film so that the satirical line "Merci, Simca" would be a household word - to diffuse Regis' line "Is that your final answer".Of the several themes the film explores, none is more relevant than the theme of the popularization of greed. A 'kidnapage' is effectively carried out during a televised game show, whilst the parents are instructed to repeat the sponsors name, hence they repeat "Merci, Simca", the name of the car they hope to win.