Voleuses (Wingwomen, Netflix, 2023)
Voleuses (a.k.a. Wingwomen) is a fun, femme-oriented action comedy, starring a bunch of fine French actresses like Adèle Exarchopoulos, Mélanie Laurent, Manon Bresch ‘et’ Isabelle Adjani.
Directed by Laurent herself and based on a comic book, this is one of those movies that knows exactly what it wants to be and never really strays from its goal.
It’s a bit longish (115 min.) and French humor can be an acquired taste, but overall this female addition to the One Last Job-genre works just fine as a solid three star-entertainment. And one of the reasons it works so well is because it doesn’t have the pretensions of being anything else.
Carole (Laurent, from Inglourious Basterds) and Alex (Exarchopoulos, La Vie d’Adèle) are not only best friends, they are also partners in crime. But they have reached the point they want to get out, which as we all know, is impossible in this line of work. After their boss, godmother Marraine (living legend Adjani), sends them a forceful message to reconsider, they agree to steal a painting called The Grande Odalisque from the Louvre in Paris. Since this is a big job they bring in rookie Sam (Bresch), who specializes in boxing and motorcycling, and Clarence (Felix Moati), an arms dealer with a price on his head.
What happens next is to a certain point predictable, in the same way that romantic comedies can be predictable (but still fun). Also, there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing how things will eventually play out.
The stars are clearly having a blast, the stunt work really is quite good and the picture has enough production value/eye candy to keep you glued to the screen.
This heady mix of action, comedy and pure girls stuff is handled so well that I expect Voleuses to be a big hit with its (mostly) female target audience.