Amidou Movies
French leading man onscreen from the '60s. ~ All Movie Guide
- 2002
- PG13
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Valentin (also known as And Now...Ladies and Gentleman) is directed by Claude Lelouch and features Jeremy Irons as Valentin, a criminal mastermind whose jewel-stealing business, despite having made him rich, does not offer him much room for personal growth. Hoping to find meaning for his existence, Valentin buys a boat and sets off on a one-man sailing trip around the world, with the police at his heels. At the same time, a burned-out jazz singer named Jane (Patricia Kaas) is in Morocco trying to forget an ill-fated love affair. Valentin, after being struck by a serious illness, makes an emergency landing on the Moroccan coast. Jane soon crosses paths with the suave con artist, and they begin a relationship. Valentin, filmed in France, England, and Morocco, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002. The supporting cast of Valentin includes Xavier Lecoeur, Romula Walker, and Laura Mayne-Kerbrat. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeremy Irons, Patricia Kaas, (more)
Brad Pitt is reunited as a co-star with his A River Runs Through It (1992) director Robert Redford for this espionage thriller from Tony Scott. On the verge of retirement from the Central Intelligence Agency, veteran spy Nathan Muir (Redford) learns that his one-time protégé Tom Bishop (Pitt) has gone rogue and been taken prisoner after attempting to smuggle a prisoner out of China. Although Muir and Bishop had once been close friends, sharing adventures from Vietnam to Berlin, bad blood and resentment developed between them, and the two men haven't seen each other in years. As his memories of their friendship come flooding back, Muir sets about arranging the rescue of his old friend from a Communist jail. Spy Game (2001) co-stars Catherine McCormack as a human rights activist and Bishop's love interest. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, (more)
The war for control of a lucrative international drug trade provides the focus of this drama. The trouble begins when a kingpin is released after serving a ten year prison sentence and discovers that his relatives are engaging in a bloody battle for control. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Hanin, Richard Berry, (more)
Bo Derek stars as B.J. Cassidy, a Texas millionaire out to take over a French chocolate production company who instead finds romance with the factory's owner (Robert Hays). ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bo Derek, Robert Hays, (more)
In this thriller, Karim Hamida (Richard Berry), an undercover agent for an Arab government, and Simon Atlan (Patrick Bruel), a Jewish cop, join forces to fight terrorism. To begin with they are paired by their superiors to bust up an international heroin ring operating in French high schools. At first, they haven't got anything good to say to each other, but when they catch wind of a terrorist hiding out at an embassy, they join forces. This same terrorist is posing as the director of an "Islamic cultural center" which is actually a school for mayhem. These two men infiltrate the center and disrupt its operations, nearly losing their lives in the process. The bad guy swears vengance, and begins a campaign of terrorism aimed specifically at these two men. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Berry, Patrick Bruel, (more)
- Starring:
- Robert Castel, Nicole Calfan, (more)
John Huston directed this exciting World War II action film, which culminates in a rousing soccer game. In a German prisoner of war camp, Major Karl von Steiner (Max Von Sydow), the camp commander, once a member of the German national soccer team, decides to put together a soccer match between a team of Allied prisoners, led by Captain John Colby (Michael Caine), a former English international soccer player. The game is to be played in Colombes Stadium in Paris and exploited for maximum propaganda effect by the Nazi publicity machine. Robert Hatch (Sylvester Stallone) is enlisted to assist the Allied prisoners to train for the event. But, in fact, the Allies are planning a risky escape during the soccer match. Famed Brazilian soccer great Pele makes an appearance in the film, along with Bobby Moore, the captain of Britain's 1966 World Cup champions, and Argentine soccer star Osvaldo Ardiles. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, (more)
Trinity series star Bud Spencer returns to the Wild West in director Michele Lupo's comic tale of an outlaw drifter, Buddy, who is mistaken for a doctor after his Indian companion inadvertently steals a bag of surgical instruments. When a band of murderous outlaws attempts to overrun the small town Buddy is passing through, the presumed medico shows that his true talent is cracking skulls. Music is composed by Ennio Morricone. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
The plot of William Friedkin's suspense thriller originated with the same Georges Arnaud novel that inspired Henri-Georges Clouzot's French suspense classic The Wages of Fear (1953). Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, and Amidou play four men who, for various reasons, cannot return to their own countries. They end up in a dismal South American town where an American oil company is seeking out courageous drivers willing to haul nitroglycerin over 200 miles of treacherous terrain. The four stateless men have nothing to lose -- and, besides, they'll be paid 10,000 dollars apiece, and be granted legal citizenship, if they survive. The suspense is almost unbearable at times, even outdistancing the tension level of The Wages of Fear in certain scenes. Sorcerer had all the earmarks of a moneymaker, but this picture bombed for a rather odd and silly reason: its glaringly inappropriate title. Fans of Friedkin's The Exorcist may have gone home disappointed that not one sorcerer ever rears its ugly head. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, (more)
Based on a novel by Joan Hemingway and Paul Bonnecarrere, Rosebud opens with five young women vacationing aboard a luxurious yacht called the Rosebud. All five of the women are the daughters of wealthy and powerful men; one of them is the daughter of an influential American senator. Their vacation is shortlived, however, as the Rosebud has been targeted by a group of Middle Eastern terrorists who kidnap the girls and hold them as hostages until their demands are met. Quickly alerted to the situation is reporter Larry Martin (Peter O'Toole), who it turns out is really an agent for the CIA. Martin enlists the aid of agents from Israel and West Germany, as well as a strange Islamic Englishman who, as he is working to destroy Israel, would seem to be on the side of the terrorists. Martin has his work cut out for him, as he must rescue the hostages quickly and with no injury coming to any of them. Adapted by Eric Lee Preminger for his father, director Otto Preminger, Rosebud was initially set to star Robert Mitchum, who left or was fired after experiencing one of the director's customary heated confrontations. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Richard Attenborough, (more)
Tunisia is a rough placed to be trapped in, especially if you are an Israeli spy (Jean-Pierre Marielle) on the run. Fortunately, the French embassy gives the ill-fated fellow a place to hide. Unfortunately, they can't smuggle him out, because there is an airline strike. Fortunately, he finds love and comfort with a young Frenchwoman (Mireille Darc) working at the embassy. Eventually, she convinces a French friend of hers (Michel Constantin) to help them escape. This comedy/spy movie is in French. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mireille Darc, Michel Constantin, (more)
Double and triple crosses complicate the lives of the amiable villains of this French crime-caper film. The story concerns a group of people living in a blue-collar neighborhood which is being demolished for a new office and housing development. In order to save their neighborhood, they get together and decide on a complicated plot involving jewel-theft and insurance fraud. Things get even more complicated when they call on the services of an expert burglar. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Serge Reggiani, Michel Bouquet, (more)
This charming, independent film marks a small departure of form for director Claude Lelouch, better known for his more polished and commercial films, such as A Man And A Woman. Though it was filmed in eight days with an extremely tiny budget, this film still shows Lelouch's gentle sentimentality. Catherine (Catherine Allegret), Midou (Amidou) and Charlot (Charles Gerard) are taking the weekend off together. Catherine and Midou are getting married, after all. The rowdy threesome meet after work to go through a civil marriage ceremony and to drink and party. They are joined by their more conservative friend, Jeannot (Jean Collomb). Along the way, they sweep a blind busker (Francis Lai) into their celebrations, steal a car, and head south for St. Tropez. One highlight of this lighthearted film is the skillful way Lai's music is incorporated into the film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Gerard, Amidou, (more)
Before the Allied invasion of North Africa in World War II, there was still plenty of confusion, and wartime national alliances often conflicted with personal friendships. Valentin (Michel Piccoli), a French black marketer, rescues Basil (Michael York), an English fighter pilot, off the coast of Italian-occupied Libya. The pilot is discovered by the police when Valentin leaves him with friends in order to visit with his Italian girlfriend. As a result, both Valentin and Basil are held in custody. They escape together and flee to the (neutral) Swiss Embassy, where they get help in the form of a car driven by the ambassador's wife. This French-language wartime comedy recounts their adventures on the journey out of Libya. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlène Jobert, Michel Piccoli, (more)
Nolan (Serge Reggiani) was set up to take the fall for a crime committed by his whole gang, and as a result, his brother is dead and he is forced to do a stint in prison. Nolan comes out of prison looking for his former compatriots, and not just to shake their hands. He runs into an old girlfriend, Madeleine (Jeanne Moreau), now a respectable doctor's wife. Another woman he encounters, Lea (Simone Signoret), betrays him to an enemy. The remaining cast includes a number of fine French actors who add depth to this suspense thriller (Charles Vanel, Marcel Bozzuffi, Andre Pousse, Michel Bouquet, Amidou and Jean Desailly). This is a French language film, with no dubbing or subtitles. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, (more)
Simon (Jean-Claude Trintignant) gets out of prison and summons his old friend Charles (Charles Gerard) and Martine (Christine Lelouch), his one time lover now married to a wealthy man. The three kidnap a little boy and then blackmail the bank where the boy's father works to pay the ransom of one million dollars. The publicity-conscious bank pays the ransom but the rest doesn't go exactly as planned. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Louis Trintignant, Christine Lelouch, (more)
The title Life Love Death (originally La Vie, L'amour, la Mort) pretty much runs the gamut of the subject matter which normally appeals to French filmmaker Claude Lelouch. Awaiting execution for murder, Souad Amidou reflects on the events leading up to this sorry contingency. It seems that Amidou can only cohabit with prostitutes, thus he seeks out satisfaction in all the side streets of Europe. Disturbed by a whore's insults when he was unable to perform, Amidou goes completely off the deep end and begins cutting a swath of death from one end of Spain to another. Lelouch's principal stylistic decision in Life Love and Death is to draw as many parallels as possible between sex and bullfighting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amidou, Caroline Cellier, (more)
Catherine (Marie Darc) is left unmarried and pregnant when her mobster sweetheart is killed in this gangster comedy. With the help of another unmarried mother-to-be, Catherine goes looking for the stash of cash buried by her lover before his death. Soon other thugs and her suspicious neighbors are following their every move in an attempt to recover the lost loot. Contains brief scenes of female nudity. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mireille Darc, Anouk Ferjac, (more)
Four young Frenchmen enamored with romantic images of American movie gangsters, quit their jobs to become crooks themselves in this comedy. Unfortunately, none of the lads have the knack for pulling off capers. For example, when they try to abduct a movie star they end up with her stand in. Unfortunately, despite their lively antics, the four come to a bad end in the French version of this film. In the American release, they meet a gentler, more carefree end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Pierre Barouh, (more)

















