Le Professionel (1981)

After escaping from an African country where he spent two years in prison for attempting to assassinate its President (Pierre Saintons), a French secret service agent (Jean Paul Belmondo) returns to France with revenge on his mind as he seeks to get the men who sold him out. Based on the novel DEATH OF A THIN SKINNED ANIMAL by Patrick Alexander and directed by Georges Lautner (ROAD TO SALINA). This is a solid if not very credible action thriller with the always charismatic Belmondo commanding the screen. We can't help but be complicit in his vengeance gone amok even if Belmondo's character is less than noble but to the film's credit, its downbeat ending is more realistic than the usual Hollywood heroics. The film is sloppy in some areas. Belmondo's rogue agent would surely be recognizable with his picture in the newspapers and most certainly with law enforcement yet he seems to move throughout the city with ease. By now, a car chase in a movie of this sort is a given and they're usually of the standard variety but there's a corker of a car chase in this one. The underscore is by Ennio Morricone. With Robert Hossein, Bernard Pierre Donnadieu, Jean Desailly, Elisabeth Margoni, Cyrielle Clair, Michel Beaune and a nice turn by Marie Christine Descouard as a call girl.