THE LOOKOUT (Le Guetteur) DVD (2012)

SYNOPSIS: Captain Mattei (Daniel Auteuil) is on the brink of arresting a notorious gang of bank robbers when rooftop sniper (Mathieu Kassovitz) shoots at a unit of cops to allow his accomplices to escape. One of the gang is seriously wounded, which forces them to change their plans. Hiding out with a corrupt doctor (Olivier Gourmet), they have to postpone sharing the spoils. As Captain Mattei organizes a major manhunt, the gang starts their descent into hell...

MOVIE REVIEW:

This French crime drama begins with a nail-biting scene of cops vs. robbers on a crowded street of Paris. A group of robbers has clocked 15 heists within a span of 2 years and now Captain Mattei (Daniel Auteuil from “36”) is assigned to arrest this gang of bank robbers. However the mission is thwarted when a rooftop sniper, Vincent Kaminski (Mathieu Kassovitz) successfully wounded the cops thus allowing his fellow accomplices to escape.

Just when you thought it’s another one of those intense cop dramas which French cinema occasionally served up, Italian director Michele Placido and his screenwriters decide to pull off something unexpectedly middling. With one of their guys wounded, the rest of the men decide to hide in the house of an illegal doctor, Franck before splitting the loot. The surprise here is Franck happens to be a greedy serial killer as well.

I have no problems with serial killers in a horror, torture porn genre but in a cop thriller movie? Seriously? The plotting veers into a confusing myriad of issues after the intense opening beginning with numerous characters liked Vincent’s ex-lawyer girlfriend, a morphine-addicted partner and his wife taking much of the screentime. Captain Mattei on the other hand is no saint either; he probably has a personal vendetta against Vincent who killed his son while both were on a secret mission in Afghanistan. Throw in a sick character liked Franck and the cat-and-mouse game becomes a less than compelling title at the end.

That being said, Michele Placido did manage to concoct yet another impressive action sequence for the finale in case you feel short-changed. Obviously, “The Lookout” would be a much welcome crime flick if Placido actually work on a better story arc. Technically, the movie has all the aesthetic to look cool and drained though leading stars Daniel Auteuil and Mathieu Kassovitz are mostly wasted in this effort. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

This no-frills DVD contains imprinted English subtitles and a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack that does little to the shootouts.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee