Le cercle rouge (re-release)
Metascore
91 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 19 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
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  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    100
    For some of us, this constitutes a religious event.
  2. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    There is one cool, understated scene after another.
  3. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    100
    Watching Le Cercle Rouge, we're caught up in a world that, however improbable some of its twists and turns seem, strikes us as a perfect, imaginative creation.
  4. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    100
    A glistening gem among caper movies, this impeccably elegant jewel-heist drama takes its title from Buddhist lore, its cast from France's great gallery of leading men, and its style from the unique blend of cinematic savoir-faire and brooding existential angst.
  5. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Andy Klein
    90
    It was Melville's second-to-last feature, and it shows him in top form, with a more generous dose of humor than usual.
  6. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    100
    The antidote to every square tough-guy caper you've ever seen, and the inspiration for many great ones. It is an existential imperative to seek out a showing and burn rubber to get there, preferably in an excellent car.
  7. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    90
    Melville seems to peer out from behind the camera with a reassuring wink and nod. Le Cercle Rouge is the most self-consciously cool of his famously underheated films noirs.
  8. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    100
    A dazzling epic of love, guns, gangsters and cigarettes.
  9. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Marta Barber
    88
    As film noirs go, this one is a classic.
  10. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    90
    At its best, the film compares favorably to its obvious antecedents, "Rififi" (which Melville once hoped to direct) and "The Asphalt Jungle."
  11. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    100
    A slo-mo gem of gangster cool, of vintage Hollywood noir reimagined by a French new waver in love with American cars, American jazz, and the kind of trench-coated tough-guys embodied by Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum.
  12. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    91
    When it was released in the United States more than 30 years ago, its distributor hacked away 40 minutes of its precise structure. This rerelease restores every meticulous second of Melville's cinematic fantasy.
  13. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    90
    Offers the kind of experience that makes you glad movies exist.
  14. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    90
    For students of cool ... Le Cercle Rouge is required viewing.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.8 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 12 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. JMH
    10
    Melville's impeccably constructed, paced, and plotted "Le cercle rouge" is the antithesis of overblown, contemporary Hollywood crime thrillers. And for the better in every sense. Hollywood may have rotted your mind leaving you without the attention span to take in such a film. But if it's not, or if you have a glimmer of hope it's not, watch this film. Melville's deliberate storytelling zooms in on the essence of the escape, the chase, and the heist; on criminals, other sordid figures, and cops. Everything the viewer needs and wants to know is spun out carefully and grippingly. There's not an explosion every 3 minutes in this film. There's no faux suspense. There are no fast-paced, quick thrills. Yet every moment of "Le cercle rouge" is richly absorbing crime drama of the highest order.… Full Review »
  2. SteveK.
    10
    The transfer is pristine, the story is intriguing and, in it's genre, it's an absolute top rank example. What's not to love?
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