The plot sounds promising enough at first: there's a wanted criminal, the infamous Pépé le Moko, lurking in the narrow streets of Algiers' notorious Casbah, played by Jean Gabin (always a solid choice for this type of characters), who's evaded capture for two years already, ridiculing French police forces and their informers at every turn, because the Casbah's inhabitants got his back. Then a Parisian lady turns up, and everything starts to go awry, culminating in a cliché-ridden "love at first sight"-story development and an ending the German language would best describe as pure Kitsch.
I was really looking forward to see this one, really wanting to like it; although there are a few memorable moments shining through here and there (like the old singer emotionally reminiscing her long gone days of youth over a record she plays), there simply isn't enough of what I need to classify it as a gangster movie: not enough grit, not enough action, barely any interesting character.
I just feel this could have been so much more, especially with the Algerian setting; the material was certainly there. Wasted potential, sorry to say!
I was really looking forward to see this one, really wanting to like it; although there are a few memorable moments shining through here and there (like the old singer emotionally reminiscing her long gone days of youth over a record she plays), there simply isn't enough of what I need to classify it as a gangster movie: not enough grit, not enough action, barely any interesting character.
I just feel this could have been so much more, especially with the Algerian setting; the material was certainly there. Wasted potential, sorry to say!