Cédric Jimenez’s *The Connection* (2014), or *La French*, reimagines the 1970s Marseille heroin trade through a Gallic lens, offering a companion piece to William Friedkin’s *The French Connection* that pulses with its own distinct rhythm. Anchored by Jean Dujardin’s magnetic performance as magistrate Pierre Michel, the film transforms a familiar crime saga into a character-driven meditation on obsession and moral compromise. Jimenez’s direction is deliberate, favoring a slow-burn intensity that mirrors the grinding persistence of Michel’s crusade against Gaëtan “Tany” Zampa’s drug empire, played with chilling restraint by Gilles Lellouche. The interplay between these two men both bound by family yet driven to destruction forms the narrative’s beating heart, elevated by a screenplay that deftly parallels their lives without forcing symmetry.

Laurent Tangy’s cinematography is a standout, bathing Marseille in a sepia-tinged glow that evokes the era’s grime and glamour. The city itself becomes a character, its sunlit ports and shadowy alleys reflecting the moral ambiguity of the protagonists. Wide shots of Marseille’s coastline contrast with claustrophobic interiors, amplifying the tension between freedom and entrapment. The soundtrack, blending 1970s disco hits like Blondie with Guillaume Roussel’s synth-driven score, grounds the film in its period while lending a modern pulse, though occasional overuse of familiar tracks risks nostalgia over substance.

However, the film’s ambition stumbles in its pacing. At 135 minutes, the narrative meanders, particularly in subplots involving corrupt police that feel underexplored. While Jimenez avoids the kinetic chaos of Friedkin’s classic, the lack of visceral action sequences may disappoint viewers expecting a traditional thriller. The screenplay, co-written with Audrey Diwan, excels in character depth but falters in resolving secondary threads, leaving some emotional beats like Michel’s strained family life underdeveloped despite Céline Sallette’s compelling performance as his wife.

Dujardin’s portrayal is the film’s linchpin, his charm and vulnerability masking a relentless drive that borders on self-destruction. Lellouche’s Zampa, by contrast, is a study in calculated menace, his unraveling portrayed with subtle cracks rather than melodrama. Their rivalry, less a clash of titans than a quiet war of attrition, offers a fresh perspective on the cop-crook archetype, though it never reaches the mythic intensity of Michael Mann’s *Heat*. *The Connection* is a stylish, introspective crime drama that thrives on its performances and setting, even if it doesn’t fully escape the shadow of its American predecessor.[](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Connection_%282014_film%29)[](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2935564/)[](https://www.reelingreviews.com/reviews/the-connection/)