Larry | The life, the life of a fallen cop

Multi-ethnic neighborhood in North Montreal. A shootout breaks out between two street gangs, in broad daylight. A stray ball hits an (innocent) passer in the back. Suspects slip through the fingers of the police.

Is this a recent article from the miscellaneous section of your Hurry Favourite? No. It is rather the starting point of the excellent police thriller. larry, of the mythical tandem that created life lifenamely, author Stéphane Bourguignon and director Patrice Sauvé.

I watched the first three episodes of larry on Monday, without blinking, and I can’t wait to see the next seven, which will land on Extra de Tou.TV on Thursday. For those who do not subscribe to this payment platform, please note that Radio-Canada will deposit larry in its upcoming television regular season.

larry does not fit into the category of traditional police series.

Of course, this dense and brilliant work contains breathless investigation and unexpected twists, but it incorporates comic touches and personal drama that colors the entire plot.

All topped off with 1970s psychedelic music and delivered in visual packaging that evokes the classic film. the french connection by filmmaker William Friedkin. He is downright captivating.

The Larry of the series title is a former undercover cop (the solid Benoît Gouin) from the Montreal police, who was ostracized after a dubious follow-up case, where he allegedly shared with organized crime. Embittered, disappointed and humiliated, Larry, 62, handed over his badge and gun to him. For eight years, he has worked as a security guard in an anonymous building.

But the failure of his latest investigation, coupled with a keen sense of betrayal, still haunts him. The day his wife France (the very beautiful Monique Spaziani) receives a gunshot wound to the spine, Larry activates the “vigilante” mode.

First, because the guilt eats away at him. He couldn’t protect his wife from him. He left her in the middle of an exchange of gunfire. He could and should have prevented the attack, frankly.

Then, because Larry refuses to face the tests presented to him. His spouse of the last 40 years will never walk on two legs again. And the life they have built together will change drastically.

Larry flees from all this in the parallel investigation -and nothing legal- that he leads in the streets of the Parc-Extension neighborhood.

Who shot your wife? Larry plunges into an unsettling spiral, one that will do both good and harm to those around him.

Quickly, Larry fights with Detective Sergeant Romain Félix (Irdens Exantus), who is overseeing the shooting investigation. Larry also falls out with his only remaining friend on the police force, Lisa Jackowska, played by Macha Limonchik. In fact, Larry is fueled by conflict and alienates just about everyone around him, including his daughter Annie (Alexa-Jeanne Dubé), who is still suffering from the many absences from the time she was officiating as a double agent.

According to Jimmy McNulty of The wire or Luther in the series of the same name, the anti-hero character of Larry deftly blows hot and cold. In one episode, we understand Larry’s anguish and support his quest for justice. In the next episode, Larry makes a reprehensible gesture and we’d like to shake him violently, scallion.

Larry’s neighbor, single mother Tara (Sharon James), will play a major role in the story, as will her 16-year-old daughter Selena (Michaëna Benoit).

The stage woven by Stéphane Bourguignon is vast, rich and dense. Ending with a bang, the first episode rolls full throttle and effectively sets up the story’s key figures, including the head of a criminal organization (Anglesh Major), a sleazy cop (Jean-Moïse Martin) and a hothead. Among Bandits (Vincent Paradis-Montplaisir). Larry’s security partner, the nice and addicted Jonathan (Simon Lacroix), serves as a valve of humor during the most tense moments.

Without divulging anything, you suspect that all the elements of our lonely Larry’s past form a huge puzzle that the viewer will gather throughout the ten hours of this suspense.

There is much depth in the texts of Stéphane Bourguignon, who offers probably his most accomplished and intense series to date. I liked it much more larry that fatale stationlet’s put

My biggest drawback? The crucial shooting scene could have been better choreographed. There is some looseness in this sequence, which is slightly lacking in realism.

In the end, the author does not feel the shadow of a little fatigue.