AllMovie

A film with two distinctive halves, Cartouche begins as a light-hearted swashbuckler, with Jean-Paul Belmondo casually fending off all comers with some help from his army pals, the giant Gentle (Jess Hahn) and the suave Mole (Jean Rochefort). When he falls for the lovely gypsy Venus (Claudia Cardinale) and assumes control of the crime syndicate formerly run by Malichat (Marcel Dalio), all seems right with the world. But the film is only at its halfway point, and from there, the proceedings turn melancholy. Cartouche falls for another woman, perhaps because she's married to the chief of police and the excitement of the ultimate robbery is irresistible. Isabelle (Odile Versois) proves elusive, which spurs Cartouche's affections, but disaster looms. A rendezvous becomes a betrayal, a rescue turns tragic when Venus takes a bullet for her lover. This is not the way The Adventures of Robin Hood or The Crimson Pirate wrapped up things, so for all its physical comedy and Belmondo's charm, the viewer may be shocked to hear the hero mutter a fatalistic line as the story closes.