Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 53
Fresh: 42 | Rotten: 11
A gritty, languidly paced crime drama that blends old-fashioned ambiance with modern cynicism.
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Critic Reviews: 22
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 6
A gritty, languidly paced crime drama that blends old-fashioned ambiance with modern cynicism.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 2,279
A young, inexperienced detective is inducted into an elite Paris plainclothes unit in Le Petit Lieutenant, directed by Xavier Beauvois (Don't Forget You're Going to Die). Antoine (Jalil Lespert or Human Resources) is as gung-ho as they come, and eager to learn everything he needs to know to be a good cop, although he misses his wife (Bérangère Allaux), a schoolteacher who stayed behind in the country when Antoine took his new job. Antoine socializes with his new comrades, who seem to drink an
Unrated, 1 hr. 50 min.
Art House & International, Drama
Cédric Anger, Xavier Beauvois, Guillaume Bréaud, Jean-Eric Troubat
Sep 8, 2006 Limited
Apr 10, 2007
Cinema Libre
All Critics (55) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (11) | DVD (7)
A quiet powerhouse of a film, an implacable, uncompromising French police drama, both old-fashioned and modern, that underlines the reasons impeccably made crime stories do so well on-screen.
Le Petit Lieutenant shows how good French movies can be when they stay French and don't try to go international.
... you can sense Baye's struggling within the limits imposed on her.
Le Petit Lieutenant looks at Antoine's life with lyricism.
Beauvois makes the milieu his own, too, showing us credible and affecting human beings caught up in a world that often reveals humanity at its worst.
The movie's realism is unimpeachable, though American cops might be stunned by the idea of a half-dozen detectives being assigned to the murder of an anonymous floater.
The rarely done genre of the French policier is alive and well in director Xavier Beauvois' dynamic movie
French version of upscale cop shows like NYPD Blue or The Wire.
Gives the audience a strong sense that you're watching how things really go down in a police station... only without all the action and excitement of a TV cop show.
To cut to the chase...this is a very French, understated, intelligent, slow, police procedural that ultimately engrosses and then surprises the viewer. If you don't see it in a theater, it would be a great rental.
As a portrayal of the angst that permeates most police work...certainly a success. As drama, however, it's far from riveting.
A hugely satisfying policier that delivers exceptional performances.
Still mourning the end of Helen Mirren in TV's Prime Suspect? You might want to give Le Petit Lieutenant a whirl.
Basically a vivid meal of characters, plus coffee and wine and one gin tonic, Le Petit Lieutenant keeps true to its brasserie menu.
The film's plot, revolving around a murder investigation that turns nasty, ticks along smoothly and efficiently. But it's ultimately more of a character drama, and a reminder that great acting often has little to do with words.
... one that will likely earn more respect from viewers than it will passion.
It's March! :fresh:
March 3, 2007
Super Reviewer
"Le Petit Lieutenant" starts out with Antoine Derouere(Jalil Lespert) graduating from the police academy and chooses as his first assignment the detective squad in Paris, much to the consternation of his young wife, who does not want to leave her teaching job in Le Havre. In Paris, Antoine is assigned to the Crime
September 10, 2006Super Reviewer
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