Synopsis
Newly transferred to the bustling port city of Marseille to assist with a crackdown on organized crime, energetic young magistrate Pierre Michel is given a rapid-fire tutorial on the ins and outs of an out-of-control drug trade. Pierre's wildly ambitious mission is to take on the French Connection, a highly organized operation that controls the city's underground heroin economy and is overseen by the notorious —and reputedly untouchable— Gaetan Zampa. Fearless, determined and willing to go the distance, Pierre plunges into an underworld world of insane danger and ruthless criminals.
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Cast
- Jean DujardinJuge Pierre Michel
- Gilles LelloucheGaëtan 'Tany' Zampa
- Céline SalletteJacqueline Michel
- Mélanie DouteyChristiane Zampa
- Benoît Magimel'Le Fou'
- Guillaume GouixInspecteur José Alvarez
- Bruno Todeschini'Le Banquier'
- Féodor AtkineGaston Deferre
- Moussa MaaskriFranky Manzoni
- Pierre LopezJean Paci
Recommendations
- 88
RogerEbert.com
While the results inevitably pale in comparison to "The French Connection" — which could be said about virtually every other film currently in release — they do make for an above-average work that offers viewers a new perspective on a familiar story. - 75
New York Post
A passable French homage to the American crime epic, The Connection has plenty of visual style to go with stock characters. - 75
Slant Magazine
The film feels utterly infatuated by the cop/crook dividing line long-since drawn, if not flogged, by Michael Mann. - 75
Christian Science Monitor
From scene to scene The Connection is never less than watchable, although it is also never less than predictable. - 70
The Dissolve
The grace notes in Dujardin’s performance are an important booster for The Connection, which conspicuously lacks the grit and flavor of William Friedkin’s tangentially related The French Connection, and at worst unfolds like Scorsese-lite. - 60
The New York Times
Fetishizing the tired tokens of the American gangster movie, The Connection is a slickly styled, overlong pastiche. Yet its denizens have a retro glamour and the soundtrack a shameless literalness that’s rather endearing. - 60
Los Angeles Times
Despite the pedestrian screenplay (by Jimenez and Audrey Diwan), Dujardin and Lellouche are magnetic performers who slip easily into their antagonistic roles. - 58
The A.V. Club
Without a hair-trigger renegade like Popeye Doyle or a long-awaited De Niro-Pacino showdown at its center, this procedural account, running well over two hours, takes on a certain plodding, obligatory vibe.
