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Le petit lieutenant
User Score
7.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8

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  1. ChadS.
    May 10, 2007
    8
    When Caroline(Nathalie Baye) asks Antoine(Jalil Lespert) why he became a cop, the young lieutenant cites the movies as an influence. "Le Petit Lieutenant" isn't "In the Heat of the Night", this crime-drama won't be luring any young impressionable kids to the force, not with its depictions of office work and tedious interviews with an uncolorful assortment of witnessess. As Antoine drives around Paris for the first time in a cop car, he simulates the high-speed chases of his movie-going days to get out of traffic. In doing so, he makes the audience aware that "Le Petit Lieutenant" is attempting something atypical of the police procedural genre; which is, that on most days, being a policeman can be a pretty unremarkable job. For most of its running time, the only time a gun gets fired is at a shooting range. "La Petit Lieutenant" deepens considerably when Caroline overtakes Antoine as the film's protagonist. We're unsure if she sees her subordinate as a surrogate son, or a potential lover. This enigma makes her face an interesting mask to study.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. MichaelW.
    Oct 20, 2006
    10
    This is the best police film I've seen -- and I'm no youth. Nathalie Baye is brilliant. I find criticisms of superbly rendered films for their "slow pacing" to be juvenile...but to each his/her own.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. JayW.
    Oct 22, 2006
    7
    A realistic police procedural done in semi-documentary style and with French verve. Wonderful ensemble cast. Could have used a heavier hand in the editing department.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  4. GeorgeL.
    Jan 10, 2007
    10
    A spare, beautifuly crafted film that takes the police genre to a deeper level while delivering on the action and suspense.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  5. Filmfan
    Nov 3, 2006
    5
    This is not a bad film, but it is just totally unexceptional in every way. TV drama caliber.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  6. robertxxx
    Oct 18, 2006
    6
    Disappointing in view of the generally glowing reviews....it's well made, but the script is so ultimately uninvolving that the whole film seems like a horrible waste of time for everyone involved.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  7. KevinA
    Dec 27, 2006
    9
    Wonderful realism - essentially the antithesis of the Lethal Weapon movies. Detectives are actually humans who have (most of the time) relatively dull jobs. This film led me into a world I was previously unfamiliar with, as other detective films always marked of non-realism. That's a great job of the film, no?
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 19
  3. Negative: 1 out of 19
  1. Variety
    Reviewed by: Leslie Felperin
    40
    Seems so determined to reproduce the drudgery of police work, it's boring for the first hour, and only marginally more exciting for the second.
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  2. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    40
    Beauvois, who co-wrote, seems hellbent on making the most realistic cop film of all time, shruggingly consumed with downtime, small talk, minor incident, and dead ends, and he's succeeded--the narrative wouldn't have cut it in a Kojak story meeting.
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  3. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    91
    Nathalie Baye is remarkable in Le Petit Lieutenant where she plays Caroline Vaudieu, a Parisian police inspector who returns to her post after a bout with alcoholism following her child's death.
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