7cb1d79195 While a terrorist epidemy strikes the world leaders, the commissaire San-Antonio and his partner, the lieutenant Bérurier, have to escort the French ambassador in a British hotel. But after a negligence of Bérurier (one more little sex affair...), San-Antonio witnessed, helpless, to the ambassador's abduction, organized by a gorgeous Italian girl. Back to Paris, San-Antonio is dismissed by the police chief, Achille Hachille. A real godsend for Bérurier, who get promoted... But soon, the situation degenerates, when the president of the Republic mysteriously disappears. Immediate reaction from Police Minister : San-Antonio is the only one who can save the day. He has 48 hours and a secret squad to find the president. At the Elysée, San-Antonio finds Bérurier, the official investigator. But now, it's every man for himself : who will be the first to find the President ? There are multiple trails: terrorists, unscrupulous banks, international dealers, dishonest politicians, pretty woman with very convincing arguments...
Frédéric Dard succeeded in forbidding the adaptation of San Antonio for 20 years. It's a shame that someone (Laurent Touil-Tartour) made him change his mind just before his death. Frédéric Dard was right : San Antonio is a jewel to read, not to watch. The scenarist tried to overcome this by melting nearly all the characters of the series and all the usual plots of San-A adventures into a single story. The result is a real mess, and the huge budget pushed it to the bottom of the abyss. LTT put high tempo where savoring was needed, he wrote standard dialogs where it should have been brilliant, he left inconsistent details where perfection was a must. 2 huge errors show how the job was not done seriously : Béru has no consequences of a bullet received at the beginning (a post-filming added dialogs tried to cancel it !), the story ends in the carnival of Rio as it was summer in Paris (the carnival takes place in February...). The casting is not so bad, but what a frustration to see very good actors prisoners of inappropriate writing. Only one reason to thank LTT : as he bought the rights on San-A adaptation, he did it before Bernard Tapie did !
this is a fair adaptation of Frederic Dard's novels, most certainly beyond the understanding of a foreigner without a deep knowledge of the French culture. Too bad for them, but very good for an avid San-Antonio reader that want to put some pictures on typical characters found in the books.<br/><br/>Don't even think to compare San-Antonio with James Bond. San-Antonio is the archetype of a rude and sexual obsessed French macho, not your usual Jaaaames. He is just like that in the books, no need to adapt the character to be politically correct for all cultures and viewers. Read the books first, that will help to understand what all this is about.<br/><br/>9/10 for a lot of fun while watching this movie. Please watch it in Widescreen, and in French; subtitles are your friends.