In the French humorous show, "les guignols de l'info", Christophe Lambert often says in a weary tone: "Yeah, I know. All my movies are rotten." Well, he should think twice before telling silly things. Indeed, "Max et Jérémie" (1992) is his best movie since "Greystoke" (1984). And this terrific movie is perfectly mastered by Claire Devers. This woman's got plenty of nerve to film violence and blood.
As it was the case with another French movie "the little criminal" (1990, dialogs constitute the vividness of the movie. They contain a lot of humor that enables to keep the spectator in suspense. It also enables to reduce the seriousness of the dramatic side of the story. But especially, Claire Devers emphasized on the dialogs for a better focus on the relationships between the two men: on one hand, Jérémie (Christophe Lambert): a lost young man who wishes to gain Philippe Noiret's friendship and on the other hand, Max (Philippe Noiret), an elderly man who'll gradually become attached to Max. Little by little, a (a bit confused but strong) friendship will link the two men. Obviously, this friendship will have its ups and downs.
Apart from this, the action sequences aren't neglected for all that and they turn out to be thrilling. At the end, the whole gives a stable movie and remarkably well constructed. In spite of a few weaknesses (Claire Devers dressed a caricatured portrait of Jean-Pierre Marielle's assistant and the last twenty minutes tend to run out of steam), it's useless to be fussy for this brilliant success. This is arguably one of the best French detective movies of the nineties. At last, one thing I don't understand: how can such a good movie have a rather low mark on IMDB? It's not fair, it deserves much more recognition.
