Expectations certainly must have been very high for this star-studded thriller. Featuring three of the very best European actors (Michel Picoli, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Gian Maria Volonté) with dialog by the great Jorge Semprún, director Yves Boisset put together a fairly inert movie. A not so bright radical (Trintignant) is duped into helping to assassinate Volonté, the exiled president of an unnamed third world country (presumably based on Morrocan leftist leader Mehdi Ben Barka). Picoli is the unpleasant military man tasked with making the hit. Much of the film is spent showing nervous bureaucrats trying to figure out how to dispose of Trintignant once he's deemed a problem. The acting is fine if uninspiring. Trintignant is far too intelligent an actor to be believable in his role. He's not a convincing dummy. Jean Seberg is utterly wasted as his nervous wife. Volonté, usually one of the most inflammatory actors, is really very dull here. Nevertheless, there are some very good things here --- Ennio Morricone's score is perfect and the supporting cast features the likes of Philippe Noiret, Bruno Cremer and Roy Scheider as a deceptively helpful American journalist.
Review of The French Conspiracy
