In this final film from French master director Claude Chabrol (1930-2010), Gérard Depardieu stars as Bellamy, a veteran police detective and minor celebrity who's ostensibly on holiday with his wife, Françoise (Marie Bunel), although--as she observes--“vacation is not in his vocabulary.” Bored by his crossword puzzles, Bellamy becomes involved in a curious case involving Noël Gentil (Jacques Gamblin)--an enigmatic man in hiding—and the attendant physical and emotional wreckage of what appears to be a botched attempt at faking a death. Depardieu has ballooned into a hulking bear of an actor, but even with all that girth he brings an easy grace to Bellamy, a man who embraces the simple pleasures in life, be they food, cigars, wine, or word games. In fact, Bellamy only gets riled up when his ne'er-do-well brother, Jacques (Clovis Cornillac), blows into town with a new investment scheme and the same old jealousies start them going around in circles like scrapping boys. The original screenplay by Chabrol and frequent collaborator Odile Barski circumvents the usual expectations of a crime story, while the breezy direction takes as much pleasure in digressions as it does in the central intrigue. Likely to appeal to both mystery fans and foreign film aficionados, this is recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Inspector Bellamy
MPI, 110 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $24.99, Jan. 25 Volume 26, Issue 2
Inspector Bellamy
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