I'm not a huge fan of most police dramas because most of them are not realistically painted on the screen. There is a forced machoism about them that usually leaves me cold. This film "Le petit lieutenant" was an exception. The title character, a passionate young cop, just out of school, really seems to care about his work, the day to day routine of it. He seems to like his fellow colleagues, treats the criminals fairly humanely and doesn't mind that his boss is a middle-aged woman. There is no sexism, chauvinism, machoism, in his or his colleagues attitudes when doing their jobs. And there does seem to be a poetic sensibility in him that helps him cope with the horrors and/or tedium of the work. Everything about this movie, the pacing, the dialogue, the plot is very realistically presented and resonates deeply within you once the credits begin to roll. It is a very human story which treats all its characters with a great deal of compassion.
Review of The Young Lieutenant
