Hold-Up (1985)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Alexandre Arcady

Writers:

Alexandre Arcady (writer)
Jay Cronley (novel)

Release Date:

23 October 1985 (Canada)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Plot:

Dressed as a clown, the clever rascal Grimm holds up the most secure bank of Montreal and takes 30 hostages...

Plot Keywords:

Montreal | Clown | Beautiful Woman | Heist | Bank Robbery

Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Grimm
Kim Cattrall	...	Lise
Guy Marchand	...	Georges
Jean-Pierre Marielle	...	Simon Labrosse
Jacques Villeret	...	Jeremie (Chauffeur de Taxi)
Jean-Claude de Goros	...	Inspecteur Fox
Tex Konig	...	Lasky
Raymond Aquilon	...	Frankie (Le Gardien)
Georges Carrère	...	Directeur de Banque
Yvan Ponton	...	Tremplin
Guy Provost	...	Le Maire
Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge	...	Enfant au Lapin
Richard Niquette	...	Otage (4 Enfants)
Yves Jacques	...	Otage 400 S
Sophie Stanke	...	Infirmiere

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Canada | France

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:11 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Cerito Films

Trivia:

First time in eight years that Belmondo has not delivered a top 10 hit movie. The last time that happened was 1976.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Inside Man (2006)

Soundtrack:

HOLD UP

HOLD-UP (Alexandre Arcady, 1985) **1/2

This is an earlier French film version of Bill Murray's QUICK CHANGE (1988) which was here adapted by distinguished screenwriter Francis Veber (its American appeal extends to the attractive Montreal locations and a title song in English!). Jean-Paul Belmondo, at 52, is pretty wacky as the bank robber-dressed-as-clown. The supporting cast is not very well-known but the main characters (Belmondo's meek partner, his police nemesis and his disgruntled ex-cellmate) are all played with gusto; also featured in the film as the love interest (of sorts) is future Hollywood starlet Kim Cattrall.

Having only read a negative review of it on the "Films De France" website, I found the film to be quite engaging overall with a surprisingly consistent first half; it does peter out eventually but is enlivened again in its latter stages by the appearance of the fat cab driver (Jacques Villeret). Alexandre Arcady is a new name for me but his half-hour interview on the R2 DVD supplements is fairly interesting (albeit if only in French) as he says that Belmondo violently bumped his head while performing one of the film's stunts himself; also worth watching was the featurette seeing celebrated stunt co-ordinator Remy Julienne rehearsing the scene in which Belmondo's car breaks into another bank through the front glass facade.