A rookie policeman from provincial Le Havre volunteers for the high pressure Parisian homicide bureau and is assigned to a middle-aged woman detective.
Le Petit Lieutenant looks at Antoine's life with lyricism.
– Bill Stamets,
Chicago Sun-Times,
12 Jan 2007
fresh:
The film's plot, revolving around a murder investigation that turns nasty, ticks along smoothly and efficiently. But it's ultimately more of a character drama, and a reminder that great acting often has little to do with words.
– Moira MacDonald,
Seattle Times,
19 Jan 2007
rotten:
... you can sense Baye's struggling within the limits imposed on her.
– Leighton Walter Kille,
Boston Globe,
26 Jan 2007
fresh:
Le Petit Lieutenant shows how good French movies can be when they stay French and don't try to go international.
– Stephen Hunter,
Washington Post,
8 Feb 2007
fresh:
A quiet powerhouse of a film, an implacable, uncompromising French police drama, both old-fashioned and modern, that underlines the reasons impeccably made crime stories do so well on-screen.