Choice of Arms [Le Choix des Armes] *** (1981, Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve) – Classic Movie Review 10,397

Director Alain Corneau’s 1981 Choice of Arms [Le Choix des Armes] stars Yves Montand and Gérard Depardieu as the old retired robber hood Noel Durieux and the menacing young gangster Mickey, who fight it out before they realise they are buddies at heart.

Choice of Arms [Le Choix des Armes] has a very French theme, really just an extension of the rows you see Parisians having in cars or cafés, and the film’s success is all in the expert playing by France’s big guns. Montand and Depardieu give their reliable turns and there is delightful performance from Deneuve too as Nicole Durieux, Montand’s lovely and beloved wife.

The crime thriller story is undermined by a surprisingly schmaltzy undertone for the French in the screenplay by Alain Corneau and Michel Grisolia.

It runs 135 minutes but the English-language version is cut, though, to 117 minutes and dubbed.

Also in the cast are Michel Galabru, Gérard Lanvin, Jean-Claude Dauphin, Jean Rougerie, Christian Marquand, Etienne Chicot, Richard Anconina, and Pierre Forget.

Alain Corneau, 1943 – 2010.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,397

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