"Le choix des armes" is a good example of French movie thriller -"le polar à la française", we can define it a true cinematic genre.
The film is an encounter between two generations of gangsters. The older one (Montand) lives now a quite life with his wife (Deneuve), the younger (Depardieu) has just escaped from prison. In this story both live personal dramas: Montand's brother dies during his escape and Deneuve is erroneously killed during a police operation; Depardieu face the impossibility of going elsewhere with his daughter and leading a normal life. He will pay the price of his dreams.
The direction of Alain Corneau is strong. He's able to analyze each charachter in a exhaustive way, no one is left apart. In this way also Gerard Lanvin and Michel Galabru's roles are well treated, between them there's almost the same relationship as between the two gangsters. Lanvin is a young agent who believes in justice but no one helps him, whereas Galabru is a frustrated old policeman.
Solid film, elegant, with action and many cat-and-mouse games.
