Tchao pantin (1983)

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Lambert (Coluche) works at night as a gas station attendant, not even attempting to stay sober the rest of the time. Every night the young Bensoussan (Richard Anconina), a minor drug dealer, stops by the gas station on his motorcycle and the two men slowly establish a solid friendship. Their… More Lambert (Coluche) works at night as a gas station attendant, not even attempting to stay sober the rest of the time. Every night the young Bensoussan (Richard Anconina), a minor drug dealer, stops by the gas station on his motorcycle and the two men slowly establish a solid friendship. Their relationship deepens steadily, partly because Bensoussan reminds Lambert of his son -- and it is then revealed that Lambert is actually a former police inspector who hit the proverbial brick wall when his son died of a drug overdose and his wife left him. The well-developed, father-son-type friendship between Lambert and Bensoussan eventually causes the former police inspector to take up his old ways and go on a manhunt aided by Lola (Agnes Soral), Bensoussan's love interest. The two of them take on the underworld of drug cartels and hitmen, reaching ever closer to the highest bosses -- and closer to each other -- as their own lives are increasingly on the line. For some critics who may have been more accustomed to Coluche the comic, he may have been a little self-conscious in his part, and the movie slightly predictable, but at the same time Coluche received the 1984 Cesar award for "Best Actor" for his interpretation of Lambert, Richard Anconina received the "Best Supporting Actor" and "Most Promising Young Actor" awards, and two other Cesars went to this film for "Best Sound," and "Best Cinematography." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi