Troubleshooters

Nicely rooted in the real France of 1971 and splendidly acted by the four principals, the crimes are treated as comic. All the baddies end up dead from a neat hole in the forehead, while the cop leading the chase switches sides to fly the loot to a Caribbean island paradise.

Between the three buddies there are enjoyable cross-currents and even, in the case of the femme fatale, twinges of conscience. Cameos include a teacher of English whose strangled speech is barely comprehensible and a lady next door who is overjoyed when questioning turns rough and begs for more.

By the élite, Lautner was seen as entertainment rather than art. In fact, considerable art goes into this entertainment: you get interesting locations, leads with some depth of character who are good to look at, and ever-lively dialogue. These things do not date at all.