Style over substance
Let me start by saying that "style over substance" is not a bad thing for me, if done right. And it seems it is done right here for many people, but not for me. I have to say that too many things bothered me during the viewing, too many wtf moments really.
- Jef's outfit
It seems that I'm not the only one bothered by this, but this really is, for me, the biggest problem, because all the story depends on it, while it's just a stupid move from the character who is supposed to be a high-profile killer. Why does he wear an outfit that much suspicious? Why does he keep it after the killing, especially after having elaborated such a complex alibi? Makes no sense to me, and I was thinking about it all along...
- Jef wears gloves, surely to not have his fingerprints on his pistol, yet, after the killing, he takes his gloves out and touch the gun, without the gloves, to throw it in water. WTF?
- The police knows where Jef's real home is, despite his efforts, that apparently succeed, to lose the cop who's following him. And later, it seems that the police just has no problem watching him ("-You know where he is? -Of course" okay... I though you lost him so far). Yet, a bit later, the cops have an elaborate plan to follow him in the underground. Make your mind...
- Jef comes back home and... what, the bird is telling him that someone was here? Or did I miss something?... Then he opens two drawers but decides to not look in the others. Why? He pass before one of his windows without checking it, but in front of the other one, he's already looking at the device before he actually moves the curtain. Does he have a special sense?
- The blond villain, who apparently also knows where Jef lives, waits for Jef at his home, but decides to not shoot him and talk to him instead (classic villain move alright). And we suddenly have the worst reason for that: his boss, who previously decided that the best solution was to kill Jef, decided that it was best to hire him for another job. Why not kill him instantly?
- When being tracked by the female cop with the chewing-gum, walking on the conveyor belt, Jef suddenly jumps out of it (smart move), and then run... in the same direction of the conveyor belt. WTF?
- The cops seem to have a very very high-end technology with some sort of transmitters that are able to transmit from the underground (how?) directly to some map with just tiny lights which seems to work as some kind of GPS using the data from those transmitters. Such incredible technology that seems right out of a James Bond movie.
- With great efforts, Jef achieves to loose the cops on his trail in the underground and then goes... to his "girlfriend"'s, well known (and surely watched) by the same cops. Is he a bit stupid or what?
- Apparently, everybody has a magic key collection which is sure to contain the right key to any lock. What?...
- Just before the end, Jef steals another car before apparently going to kill another person in the same club as before, where so many people have already seen him at least twice.
- The chief of police decides to have all his attention to interrogate Jef, based only on what? this cliched (even at that time) cop intuition? I could understand that if he only had one suspect (like in the great french movie "Garde à vue") but here he has tons of other suspects, and even one who seems to be Jef's doppleganger. A bit risky, isn't it? Isn't he afraid to miss another real potential suspect?
- Jef smartly decides to not let bandages with his blood at home, and then... just throw it on the ground, just in front of his building? WTF? Couldn't he throw it in a trashcan far from home? And of course, the cops find it.
- Very subjective point: I found the movie to be way too much procedural, and for almost nothing of interest. Don't get me wrong, those scene are pretty good, but I just find that they deliver poorly in the end.
- Another very subjective point: the acting. Being french myself, the acting in general was for me mediocre at best.
All that to say that, again, I've no problem with "style over substance" movies. Having a thin, or even minimalist story works quite good with the kind of movies, but it shouldn't be filled with so many problems that really distracted me too much during the viewing.
And, based on all the issues I've listed before, the script seems to me as it has been written by a teenager who doesn't know what he's talking about. So dissapointing from Melville. I just don't get how this movie can be a favourite to so many people, and so many great directors. The cinematography can maybe explains it all, but it was really not enough for me.
(Sorry for this way too long post)