It's easy to see what made Bertrand Blier's 1974 feature so controversial: his serio-comic portrait of two amoral drifters dares the viewer to laugh while they steal cars, break into houses, terrorize strangers, and share all the women they can lay their hands on. It might have been a Crosby/Hope adventure (The Road to Depravity?) with the two comedians playing a pair of grubby, sex-obsessed delinquents, but the irony of the title is obvious: these boys are going nowhere. The elliptical structure of the film is far more noteworthy than its episodic non-plot (and far less dated than the French fashion trends of the mid 1970s), but Bertrand Blier's typically aloof direction makes it difficult to become involved in the hijinks of two such unsympathetic characters. No one can fault Blier's talent for casting, however: the film made Gerard Depardieu an unlikely international sex symbol, and the obliging bedmate in one of the more disturbing scenes is veteran actress Jeanne Moreau. Elsewhere, the traveling companions also include newcomers Isabelle Huppert and Miou-Miou.
Review of Going Places
