Jacques Bral Movies

With his Springtime in Paris, long-inactive French helmer Jacques Bral both resuscitates and pays homage to the classic European caper film, crafting a small, occasionally humorous crime thriller in the mold of Rififi and Bob le flambeur, that focuses almost entirely on the aftermath of a crime in lieu of the heist itself. The film opens with thief-turned-convict Georges (Eddy Mitchell) released from prison after a five year stint, and dragged immediately back into the underworld by several nefarious pals. He teams up with fellow thief Pierrot (Sagamore Stevenin) to lift a bejeweled necklace from a safe in a private residence. The operation progresses smoothly; the aftermath turns deadly. Several in-the-know parties make the foolish decision to open their traps, which inadvertently pulls the cops in; soon after, events begin to spiral rapidly out of control. From there, Bral packs in a series of unforeseeable twists, turns, and double-crosses to keep the viewer in a permanent state of suspense. Pascale Arbillot and Pierre Santini co-star; Bral authored the original script. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

In this romantic drama, Thomas (Bruno Wolkowitch) is a highly enterprising and able thief, a man who can shoplift lobsters, a man who can climb sheer brick walls. On the day he returns from a stint in prison, he discovers his girlfriend has a new boyfriend - or at least a bedmate. Rather than bother her again, he returns to his old cat-burglar ways, casually seducing a few of the women whose apartments he is robbing. One day he takes shine to a very beautiful but standoffish young woman (Delphine Forest), who makes a determined but unsuccessful effort to resist his charming, wooing ways. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This film noir tends to stay within very conventional plot lines, as the narration by the main protagonist, private detective Eugene Tarpon Jean-François Balmer, recites a dreary litany of how he wanted to chuck his profession until an attractive woman shows up asking him to investigate the murder of her roommate, a porno star. Soon Tarpon is up to his neck in trouble: the police, gangsters, and the victim's lover are all out to get him -- though none are innovative enough to enliven the story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The friendship between three men and a woman who is the wife of one of them is explored in this French drama. The gentle equilibrium between them all is disturbed when a fourth man enters the picture. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi