The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

It had to happen: After watching many good french crime films, I found the first stinker. It's the worst kind of film, thinking it's smart when it's not. The lookout is just plain stupid. The plot has so many holes that it looks like swiss cheese. The film is totally unbalanced, trying to be many things at once: a cop film, a crime film about bank robbers, a serial killer film, a jail film and even a whodunit. The characters are weak and cliché. It sucks because the cast was good. I wonder why Daniel Auteuil made this awful film. He deserves better. I was misled by Auteuil and Placido (Romanzo Criminale is highly recommended). But why they turned this mockery of a script into a film is just beyond me. I hope the screenwriters didn't give up their day jobs.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday MorningDetective Mattei (Daniel Auteuil) is on the trail of Vincent Kaminski (Mathieu Kassovitz) a rooftop sniper who took out a bunch of police officers while a daring bank robbery was in progress. But as he digs deeper in to the case, he uncovers even more dark, disturbing secrets.It always seems to be the case that the continentals seem to make the better quality films, in terms of writing and general production values, and if their market doesn't get the best exposure, it certainly receives the greatest critical acclaim and there are quite a few who want to imitate it. They seem to come up with all the original ideas, that's for sure, and that's something Hollywood certainly can't claim. This familiar truth may be the case with The Lookout, even if it's not maybe the best example, perhaps.It's an intricate, absorbing thriller, quite faultless but still unremarkable, but you can't help but get the feeling that someone, sometime will try and do it again. ***

Freshly absorbing and intriguing, confusing at times, but eventually gets his goal: keep the edge of their seats. Occasionally gives the impression that the movie tries to tell two different stories or more and some subjects seem not to transcend in the development of the story... say that the ending was predictable, which is hard, I am of the idea that would have given more credibility to the story, the fact that criminals were in some Balkan region and not an Italian, however, at the end get absorb you. A good work of Michele Placido (aka Corrado Cattani), but can still offer something more, has the ability. Great collaboration of Mathieu Kassovitz (The Crimson Rivers).

What's better than one French policier? Answer: another French policier. If this falls slightly below recent efforts like 36, Quai des Orfevres, it's still far from chopped liver. Daniel Auteuil, packing a tad more weight than of late - possibly for his role of Cesar in the great Pagnol trilogy that he is remaking even as we speak, both directing and taking on the role created by the immortal Raimu - plays the vigilante cop determined to catch the sniper who took out half his squad. He tells us this in an ultimately meaningless opening sequence when he has the sniper in an interview room. We then cut back to two days previously when Auteuil had his squad waiting to catch a gang of bank robbers red- handed. They would have done, too, had it not been for the sniper, Kominsky, who picked off the cops from a rooftop. After this things get a tad convoluted and if it weren't for stiffs piling up we may well wonder who is doing all the coming and going. It's shot in a drab non- color color with blue the predominant shade which suits the downbeat tone. Worth a look.