'The Connection' is watchable but all too predictable
Set in Marseille in the 1970s at the height of the heroin trade, 鈥淭he Connection鈥� fills in the French back story to 鈥淭he French Connection.鈥澛�
聽Jean Dujardin plays real-life Pierre Michel, the newly appointed magistrate trying to shut down the heroin connection; his nemesis is crime boss Gaetan Zampa (Gilles Lellouche), who roughs up his underlings but, when they get rubbed out, pays for a fancy funeral.聽
Director C茅dric Jimenez has the finesse of a Hollywood slickster. From scene to scene 鈥淭he Connection鈥� is never less than watchable, although it is also never less than predictable. He overdoes the two-sides-of-the-same-coin simpatico between Pierre and Gaetan 鈥� they even look alike 鈥� and he is altogether too enamored of the allure of crime. This is a common problem in crime-centric movies: The bad guys are almost always more fascinating than the good guys. He needn鈥檛 have worried here. Dujardin鈥檚 bull-necked, hard-charging performance makes Pierre a worthy adversary. He gives righteousness some muscle tone. Grade: B (Rated R for strong violence, drug content, and language.)
