Bob le Flambeur

Early heist film from Melville. No doubt an inspiration for many that followed in its wake, it's also nice to see Melville make a shorter, more compact film, but the monotonous performances and the ill-fitting score turn this film into a chore rather than a riveting heist. Not his best work in other words.

Bob, a former criminal, switched careers and makes money gambling. When he falls in love with a younger girl and loses big during one of his games, he plans to rob a casino. He assembles a crew and comes up with an airtight plan, but casting himself as a casino gambler puts the entire operation in jeopardy.

Melville builds up the robbery quite meticulously, but because the characters are rather boring the film becomes terribly sluggish. The jazzy soundtrack is overly cheesy, even somewhat childish, and the heist itself isn't as tense as it should've been. At least the cinematography was slightly above par, but not enough to save this film. One of Melville's weakest films I've seen.