Lucky Jo main backdrop
Lucky Jo main poster

6.7/10 • 19

1964-11-121h 30m

Crime

Lucky Jo and his three friends are little criminals, who try to live from small burglaries. But they never have luck - ever so often something inpredictable happens to Jo and gets one of them arrested. While Jo is in prison once again, they decide they'd better do without him in future. He decides to help them secretly...and unfortunately.

Directors
Michel Deville
Editors
Nina Companéez

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Eddie Constantine

    Eddie Constantine

    Lucky Jo

  2. Pierre Brasseur

    Pierre Brasseur

    Loudéac

  3. Jean-Pierre Darras

    Jean-Pierre Darras

    Napo

  4. Françoise Arnoul

    Françoise Arnoul

    Mimi Perrin

  5. Jean-Pierre Rambal

    Jean-Pierre Rambal

    Le commissaire Guillaumet

  6. Anouk Ferjac

    Anouk Ferjac

    La femme importunée dans le bar

  7. André Cellier

    André Cellier

    Gabriel Farcasse

  8. Christiane Minazzoli

    Christiane Minazzoli

    Adeline

  9. Georges Wilson

    Georges Wilson

    Simon Archambault

Reviews1

View Reviews
John Chard Avatar

John Chard

May 23, 2020

7/10

Lucky Jo - He's Not Slow Lucky Jo is directed by Michel Deville and adapted to screenplay by Nina Companeez and Michel Deville from the novel "Main pleine" written by Pierre-Vial Lesou. It stars Eddie Constantine, Pierre Brasseur, Georges Wilson, Christiane Minazzoli, Jean-Pierre Darras, Françoise Arnoul and André Cellier. Music is by Georges Delerue and cinematography by Claude Lecomte. Lucky Jo (Constantine) and his three friends are petty criminals who try to get by from small burglaries. But they never seem to have any luck, with the source of misfortune usually accountable to Jo. While Jo is in prison once again, they decide they'd better do without him in future, but he decides to help them from afar - with less than successful results - again! As most serious film noir lovers will tell you, the French continued making film noir movies throughout the 1960 - with outstanding rewards. What is evident here with Lucky Jo, is that a French production also managed to achieve that rare old skill of making a crime/noir/comedy that works. To emphasise the comedy aspects is kind of under selling the pic, for it has great drama, action, tragedy and fulsome characterisations. You may find upon viewing this one that you be laughing uneasily for darkness is never too far away. The initial capers at pic's start have a splendid hapless whiff to them, but once the trajectory of Jo's bad luck starts to take shape, the narrative ups the ante for dramatic purpose with that devilish noir trait of coincidence biting hard. Sure enough, our main protagonist ends up in all sorts of trouble, hunted for ghastly crimes purely because noir has dealt its crafty hand. Cue great punch ups, cool moments as Jo (Constantine is great) goes about trying to prove his innocence, even gathering a smart and loyal canine partner (hello "High Sierra") in the process. Hell, he even has time to rescue a bar dwelling dame (Anouk Ferjac) from drunken male suitors. There's a clinical turn of events that belies the comedic strands that drift in and out, and it's here where the Jo character comes alive. All of which leads to a finale that doesn't disappoint. Hugely enjoyable pic for like minded genre/style fans, that is on proviso it is ultimately an odd blend of genres that will not appeal to the casual film fan. 7/10

Media

    Recommendations

    • Armored Car Robbery main backdrop

      Armored Car Robbery

      6.6

    • Jo Koy: Live from Seattle main backdrop

      Jo Koy: Live from Seattle

      6.9

    • No Backdrop

      Jo

      8.5

    • A Fistful of Dollars main backdrop

      A Fistful of Dollars

      7.8

    • Chopping Mall main backdrop

      Chopping Mall

      5.8

    • Parasite main backdrop

      Parasite

      8.5

    • Design for Living main backdrop

      Design for Living

      7.1

    • Gramps Is in the Resistance main backdrop

      Gramps Is in the Resistance

      6.9

    • Autumn Sonata main backdrop

      Autumn Sonata

      8.0

    • My Name Is Joe main backdrop

      My Name Is Joe

      7.3

    • Black Sabbath main backdrop

      Black Sabbath

      7.2

    • Night of the Living Dead main backdrop

      Night of the Living Dead

      7.6

    • The Silence of the Lambs main backdrop

      The Silence of the Lambs

      8.3

    • Fantastic Mr. Fox main backdrop

      Fantastic Mr. Fox

      7.8

    • Two Mules for Sister Sara main backdrop

      Two Mules for Sister Sara

      7.0

    • Eyes Wide Shut main backdrop

      Eyes Wide Shut

      7.5

    • Holidate main backdrop

      Holidate

      7.0

    • Fargo main backdrop

      Fargo

      7.9

    • The Greatest Night in Pop main backdrop

      The Greatest Night in Pop

      7.9

    • Funeral Parade of Roses main backdrop

      Funeral Parade of Roses

      7.6

    Status
    Released
    Original Language
    French
    Budget
    --
    Revenue
    --
    Keywords
    No keywords have been added.