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Hold-up

Hold-up

Comedy · Crime · 1985

Dressed as a clown, the clever rascal Grimm holds up the most secure bank of Montreal and takes 30 hostages. While confusing and ridiculing the police with his strange behavior, he calmly manages to rid the bank of a fortune. But then an unsatisfied companion arouses trouble...

Movie details

Hold-up

1985 Comedy · Crime 1h 54m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

Dressed as a clown, the clever rascal Grimm holds up the most secure bank of Montreal and takes 30 hostages. While confusing and ridiculing the police with his strange behavior, he calmly manages to rid the bank of a fortune. But then an unsatisfied companion arouses trouble...

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Hold-up?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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For 200 Grand, You Get Nothing Now

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After getting screwed over by life (again), two losers decide that enough is enough. Using stolen ski masks and stolen toy guns, they take hostages in their local bank, holding them for ransom. Things go well until the hostages learn what's going on, and demand a piece of the action for themselves.

The Cheap Detective

The Cheap Detective

Comedy · 1978

A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress—his partner's wife.

The Thursday Murder Club

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A group of senior sleuths passionate about solving cold cases get plunged into a real-life murder mystery in this comic crime caper.

The Wild Goose Chase

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The Ladykillers

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Johnny Dangerously

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Alexandre Arcady

Written by

Daniel Saint-Hamont · Francis Veber · Alexandre Arcady

Jean-Paul Belmondo

Jean-Paul Belmondo

Grimm

Guy Marchand

Guy Marchand

Georges

Kim Cattrall

Kim Cattrall

Lise Lefèvre

Jacques Villeret

Jacques Villeret

Jeremie Blanchet, chauffeur de taxi

Jean-Pierre Marielle

Jean-Pierre Marielle

Simon Labrosse

Jean-Claude de Goros

Jean-Claude de Goros

Inspecteur Fox

T

Tex Konig

Lasky

Court is in session

Put Hold-up on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.