Xavier Beauvoir deliberately undermines the clichés we've come to expect from the genre... unassuming and effective.
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09/07/06
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Le Petit Lieutenant (2006)
79
%
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Reviews Counted:52
Fresh:41
Rotten:11
Average Rating:6.9/10
Consensus: A gritty, languidly paced crime drama that blends old-fashioned ambiance with modern cynicism.
Theatrical Release:Sep 8, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: A gripping police noir, Le Petit Lieutenant tells the story of Antoine, an ambitious young cop from the provinces who joins a plainclothes crime unit in Paris. Antoine spends his days eagerly... [More]
Starring: Jalil Lespert, Nathalie Baye, Roschdy Zem, Antoine Chappey
Director: Xavier Beauvois
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Reviews for Le Petit Lieutenant
...an exemplary genre piece, melding a down-and-dirty 1970s vibe with a very modern perspective on the globalized nature of contemporary Paris.
08/05/06
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.
03/16/07
Top CriticLe Petit Lieutenant spends too much time laying the groundwork for a story that could be told more succinctly, but Beauvois works hard to establish office chemistry and orient Lespert to his new surroundings.
09/08/06
Le Petit Lieutenant spends too much time laying the groundwork for a story that could be told more succinctly, but Beauvois works hard to establish office chemistry and orient Lespert to his new surroundings.
09/08/06
... you can sense Baye's struggling within the limits imposed on her.
01/26/07
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04/23/09
Backed by a strong supporting cast, Baye, who received the French Cesar for Best Actress, gives a superb performance, poignantly showing Vaudieu’s continual anxiety and the depth of her pain.
09/29/06
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.
01/11/07
Le Petit Lieutenant looks at Antoine's life with lyricism.
01/12/07
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.
01/11/07
Top CriticNathalie Baye is remarkable in Le Petit Lieutenant where she plays Caroline Vaudieu, a Parisian police inspector who returns to her post after a bout with alcoholism following her child's death.
09/07/06
Feels like a TV pilot which, perhaps, it was meant to be. But, see it for Baye.
10/14/06
The rarely done genre of the French policier is alive and well in director Xavier Beauvois' dynamic movie
04/25/09
Has a clipped, Bressonian quality that makes it frustrating but also increasingly fascinating.
12/14/06
Slow-moving, even leaden, the picture's ambiance and evocation of cynicism nonetheless make this worthwhile viewing.
09/10/06
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.
03/20/07
A film about normal people doing a difficult and mostly unspectacular job. But difficult, unspectacular and - especially - normal can be nice too sometimes.
11/16/05
A hugely satisfying policier that delivers exceptional performances.
03/01/07
Understated but packing a delicate wallop, Le Petit Lieutenant is the most emotionally appealing of the recent spate of observational and minimalist dramas.
09/07/06
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