- Title: Voleuses
- IMDb: link
I’m a fan of heist movies and of director and star Mélanie Laurent, as well as co-star Adèle Exarchopoulos, so I was already predisposed to like the French film about two thieves (Exarchopoulos and Laurent) being forced into one more job by their their unreasonable employer (Isabelle Adjani). With a mostly female cast, driver Manon Bresch is added to the pair as a new trainee, the film has both a feminine and French feel more centered on the relationships between these women than the job at hand.
Exarchopoulos, Laurent, and Bresch are all good here with Laurent as the grizzled veteran looking at a crossroads, Bresch as the fresh-faced newbie to be trained, and Exarchopoulos as the most dangerous of the the trio whose need to protect the longtime friend who saved her life colors her actions.
Wingwomen isn’t a great film, some of the humor doesn’t quite land, Adjani’s character doesn’t work for me, and taking a step back there are more than a few issues with the script including the fact that the pair don’t actually need a third member for the job whose training takes up so much of the film’s running time. Throw in a problematic late twist and you have a mixed bag. That said, it certainly has its moments including a very cool glass safe house in the middle of the woods, the heists which open and close the movie where things continually go wrong, and several scenes built upon those relationships (and the performances by our three likable leads) which provide the spine of the film. I’d still recommend it for the right audience, although that might be a more narrow group of people than Laurent was hoping for.
Watch the trailer
