Customer Reviews

Le Convoyeur (Original French ONLY Version - No Englsih Options)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

`Le Convoyer' (aka `Cash Truck') starts like `Reservoir Dogs'. You see three guys chatting with each other, joyfully talking about the Rolling Stones. They are in an old cash delivery van driving in the middle of a deserted road. The scenery around is beautiful, but you know something is going to happen to them. And it does.

But before you know what really happens, the story jumps forward, and we are introduced to one cash-delivery company Viligante, where a new employee Alex arrives. After brief interview, he is accepted, and Alex is assigned a job to guard the cash truck. But after the day's work, Alex does not go home. He goes to a hotel, where, it seem, he is going to stay very long. In fact we know nothing about Alex except that his motive to apply to this dangerous job is, as the film soon reveals, not a usual one.

[FRENCH CRIME THRILLER] `Le Convoyer' is a French crime thriller, or you may call it French noir if you like. The tone is always dark, and the unique characters often play the significant roles in the story. The employees of the cash-delivery company, all of them being "losers" (one of the rules of this genre), are not enjoying the job - some obviously addicted to alcohol or other things - partly because the company is going to be sold to the Americans, and partly because they suspect someone inside the company is selling information about the delivery. You know something is wrong when vans were attacked by the armed robbers three times in a year, and as many as nine employees are brutally murdered.

The film will give you minimum amount of hints as to the identity and motive of Alex, and it takes time to let you know the truths about him. Though the film contains humor, the overall feeling of this thriller is exactly that of noir, or `dark.' The interspersed episodes about the routine work of cash delivery realize the languid life of the characters, but we sense some undercurrent that is going on deep under their mundane works. And when it comes, it comes with a big shock, or well-constructed action, which is not only realistic, but also very intense. The last 15 minutes give you real emotional tension.

I know nothing about the director Nicolas Boukhrief, or the film's star Albert Dupontel (imagine the face of Stanley Tucci). Probably you don't know them either, but it doesn't matter. The cast is all perfect, and the director knows how to use the camera effectively to evoke the dark tone of the film that attracts and often unnerves the audiences. Though the story itself is highly unlikely, the thrills of the film are undeniable.