Le Magnifique

Le Magnifique (1973) is a French "James Bond" spy film starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jacqueline Bisset. The first 40 minutes were outstanding, with Belmondo so skillful that he shoots 8 people out of a palm tree with one shot, shoots 30 or 40 bad guys with a semi-automatic, spots assassins in costume from miles away, and many other amazing things as well. For instance, someone throws a grenade at him at the airport. He picks up a tennis racket from a luggage cart, and slams it back at the attacker. The attacker uses a nine iron to fire it back, and Belmondo returns volley for game, set and match. His partner, Tatiana, played by Bisset, is his equal, and there is obviously passion between them.

NUDITY REPORT

None. La Bisset showed lots of cleavage, but had everything covered in the only "nude" scene.

DVD info from Amazon.

Widescreen
no meaningful features, but good transfer and subtitles

It is at this point that we learn Belmondo is really a pulp novel author, and we have been living his latest book. In real life, Bisset is his neighbor, Christine, whom he often watches through his window. As the two become acquainted, Belmondo's story reflects the state of their relationship. While the film continues to switch between real life and fantasy, the fantasy portions don't live up to the first act of the film.

The Critics Vote

no reviews online

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 7.3 of 10.

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, I give the first third of the film a B, and the last 2/3 a C, for an overall grade of C+. Even if you don't like comedy, spy parodies, or French language films, you may want to risk a rental on this one.