Les Keufs (1987)
Directed by Josiane Balasko

Film Review

Josiane Balasko certainly fits the role of a no-nonsense, tough female cop, but her feisty performance in this, her second film as a director, is just about all the film has going for it.  The situations, characters and plot are all about as clichéd and banal as they could be, lacking the charm and inspiration of Balasko's later films.  A lacklustre script and mediocre performances from the supporting cast greatly diminishes the film's entertainment value and it is a real chore to have to sit it through to the bitter end.

Film Synopsis

Growing up in state care doesn't seen to have harmed Mireille Molyneux's career aspirations, nor her determination to get things done. Now a committed police inspector, she concentrates her efforts on smashing a prostitution ring, not knowing that that she is about to get herself into very deep water.  In her one-woman campaign to clean up the city, Mireille finds a useful ally in Yasmina, a young prostitute who is desperate to start a new life.  By arresting a prolific pimp named Charlie Mireille feels she is making progress, but the flack is soon coming her way when another pimp, Jean-Pierre, hits back and makes a complaint about her conduct to the police.

Without her knowing it, Mireille is immediately placed under police surveillance, and this creates more problems for her when she mistakes the two cops on her tail - Blondel and Lacroix - for criminals involved in the prostitution racket.  This is one blunder that Mireille's unforgiving superior, Superintendent Bouvreuil, cannot overlook.  She is summarily dismissed and then Charlie is released from custody through lack of evidence.  By now Mireille has invested so much in the case that she cannot give it up, so she continues her own private investigation.  In this, she is assisted by Lacroix, who is by now her friend, confidant and lover.  To ensure that Yasmine does not testify against him, Charlie acts swiftly and kidnaps her infant son.  Even though her enemy appears to hold all the cards, Mireille continues her fight, determined that nothing - not even the stupidity of her former police associates - will prevent her from bringing Charlie and his vile cohorts to justice...