The Outside Man
The Outside Man
French hitman Bellon (Trintignant) has been hired by mobsters to kill Victor, a rival mobster. Bellon travels to Victor's home in Los Angeles and shoots him. When Bellon tries to flee the country, he discovers that his passport and luggage have been stolen, and that another hit man named Lenny (Scheider) has been hired to kill him.
eif999 reviewedJuly 4, 2025
How’d I miss this one?
I immediately thought this is what Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was going for. A look at Los Angeles with foreign eyes that is now nostalgic. Shot I guess in 72 or 73 when the end of the hippie era was getting ugly. Some amazingly inky-black night shooting on location was impressive. As was watching folks watch Star Trek on reruns with cat food commercials on an old RCA TV, using coin-operated razors in public bathrooms, driving giant gas-guzzlers all to some funky jazz. The film is mostly and mercifully quiet with just the sounds of a city. The action is moved forward not by explanation but by reaction.
Most of the actors that show up for brief stints will be immediately recognized. Angie Dickenson as a middle-aged trophy wife who shows off her bikini body. Georgia Engel as the mother of Jackie Earle Haley, Michel Constanin, Ted de Corsia, Talia Shire…. Apparently this was mentioned in Los Angeles Plays itself. I need to revisit that documentary. Directed by Jacques Deray who did La Piscine a few years earlier. His Symphony for a Massacre is another gem of his.