Wild Target [Cible émouvante] **** (1993, Jean Rochefort, Guillaume Depardieu, Marie Trintignant) – Classic Movie Review 6069

Jean Rochefort has a whale of a time as a 55-year-old expert hitman called Victor Meynard, who encounters an inept young crook named Antoine (Guillaume Depardieu) on a kill and decides to train him as his successor.

The first target is the lovely, kooky art forger Renée (Marie Trintignant), a bold thief Victor has been hired to kill after she cheated a mobster. But for the first time in his life Rochefort finds he cannot kill.

Written and directed by Pierre Salvadori, this wild, and often spot on-target 1993 French black-comedy thriller is subversive, engaging stuff. It remains huge fun throughout, even if its mission to shock and be funny about death and pain leads it increasingly up desperate paths, and the law of diminishing returns sets in around half way.

Nevertheless there are more than enough funny moments dotted all along the 87 minute running time, as well as a good sense of pace and style. And, when all else flags, there is the extraordinary Rochefort to savour and relish.

Young Depardieu (in his third movie) and Trintignant, both offspring of famous French movie stars, are good, but they seem mere attractive eager amateurs by comparison with Rochefort. The French cabaret artist Patachou scores a bull’s-eye as Rochefort’s hard-boiled old maman, perfectly steady with both a gun and a gag herself.

RIP beloved French character star Jean Rochefort, who died on 8 October 2017, aged 87.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6069

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