Retour en force (1980)
Directed by Jean-Marie Poiré

Film Review

Jean-Marie Poiré followed his promising first film, Les Petits câlins (1978), with this somewhat derivative comedy-thriller that is more typical of the director's subsequent output. Whilst the film has a strong cast (surely any film offering the combined talents of Victor Lanoux, Bernadette Lafont and Pierre Mondy is worth watching?) it is let down by a lacklustre script which has none of the charm and observational flair of Poiré's previous film. There's also a noticeable lack of inspiration on both the directing and acting fronts, and a general sense of a film looking for a reason to be.

Admittedly, the life-sapping ennui is occasionally punctuated by the occasional laugh-out-loud visual gag (such as the pane of glass sequence and every scene involving Gérard Jugnot), but these are like precious drops of morphine to a man who has been run over by an express train - too few to be of much comfort. Having sat through this plodding affair you certainly wouldn't imagine that Poiré would be capable of making some of the most commercially successful and/or well-liked of French comedies, so who was it that directed Le père noel est une ordure, Papy fait de la résistance and Les Visiteurs? It was probably a shape-changing alien who stole his identity.

Film Synopsis

Leaving prison after an eight year stretch, Adrien Blausac is surprised to find that his wife Térésa is living with another man - a bus driver named Roger.  No less shocking to him is the way his two children, Odile and Giles, have turned out.  The real surprise Adrien has waiting for him is the discovery that his former partner in crime, Marval, has held onto all the money they acquired in their last job, instead of handing over Adrien's share to his wife, as they agreed.  Impressed with his father's former life of crime, Gilles suggests that he and Adrien join forces to break into Marval's villa and raid his safe.  Adrien likes the idea of getting even with his treacherous ex-accomplice but is reluctant to involve his son.  Suspecting that Adrien is up to something, Inspector Bonardi begins trailing him.  When Gilles puts this troublesome bloodhound out of action, Adrien has no choice but to engage him on his next criminal exploit...