THE WONDERFUL CROOK Movie Review

Pas Si Mechant que Ça

Swiss director Claude Goretta's second theatrical feature received some film festival play, but wasn't released in the U.S. until after the critical raves that greeted The Lacemaker two years later. Gérard Depardieu is Pierre, a married man and factory owner whose handmade furniture just isn't selling. He doesn't want to lay off his employees, so he decides that the only decent thing to do is rob a bank. Pierre's new life as a thief comes with a fringe benefit in the form of Nelly (Marlène Jobert), a sympathetic young woman who plays Bonnie to Pierre's Clyde. This is a feather-light, harmless little film that's pleasantly entertaining while you're watching it, but evaporates soon after. Not surprisingly, there's something very Swiss about it all; with this material, the dutiful neutrality with which Pierre's dilemma is handled drains a needed sense of foreboding from the film—the picture seems anemic. It's not all sweetness and light, but a little more messiness might have been just the ticket.

NEXT STOP … The Lacemaker, The Middle of the World, Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000

1975 115m/C SI FR Marlene Jobert, Gerard Depardieu, Dominique Labourier, Philippe Leotard, Jacques Debary, Michel Robin, Paul Crauchet; D: Claude Goretta; W: Claude Goretta; C: Renato Berta; M: Arie Dzierlatka. NYR