It’s hard not to think of other films when watching Les Miserables. Ladj Ly’s first feature film draws easy comparisons to Do the Right Thing, End of Watch, La Haine, Training Day and even the work of the Safdie brothers. Unfortunately for Les Miserables, those movies set an extraordinarily high bar. The result is still great, even if it doesn’t reach the highs of its inevitable comparisons.
The film follows three cops and a group of children in Montfermeil, the Paris suburb that inspired Victor Hugo’s original novel. One of the kids steals a lion cub from a circus and the cops attempt to get it back. Things go wrong when they confront the thief and one of the cops shoots the kid in the head with a flash ball. A drone catches the confrontation on video and the police then try and obtain the video.
In practice, the plot’s a little unwieldy and there are more than a few leaps in logic needed to get where the film needs to be at the end of its 100-minute run time. Some of the connections are a little too clean and some character turns are a little too quick for suspension of disbelief to take hold.
Many of the plot contrivances that succeed work because of the characters and the actors’ performances. Every performance in the film is excellent, especially by the cops and the child who ends up as the centerpiece of the film. Unfortunately, he’s the only kid who receives any real characterization. Most of the screen time is devoted to the cops and their internal and external struggles. Corporal Ruiz (the closest thing the film has to a main character) is scared and appalled by what he sees on his first day on the job, while colleague Chris is the main villain of the piece. He oversteps his power multiple times, screaming, “I am the law!” in an invocation of Judge Dredd. Unlike Dredd, Chris does not cut an imposing figure and that assertion comes when Chris is at his weakest, physically and sociopolitically.
When the film gets to its third act, it’s explosive. The setpiece takes place almost entirely in a stairwell and is a masterclass in action, drama and storytelling. The tension that has built the entire film boils over in a cathartic and thrilling sequence. The third act ultimately redeems the film in its skill and on-the-ground feeling reminiscent of the best war documentaries. I’m very excited to see where Ladj Ly goes next. He needs a better script next time.
Final score: 8.3/10