movielex
movie
L
ex

Movies like Max and the Junkmen

Key Features:
Undercover operation, Police corruption, Moral ambiguity, Obsession, Crime, Betrayal, Noir, French cinema, Cat and mouse, Deception, Psychological manipulation
Tone:
serious, gritty, cynical
Target Audience:
Crime thriller enthusiasts, Fans of noir, Viewers interested in moral dilemmas, Fans of French cinema
Emotional Arc:
Intrigue → Tension → Despair

Max and the Junkmen

1971-02-17
Max and the Junkmen Poster - Find Similar Movies

A detective decides to go undercover and set up a group of robbers, but he may be getting too caught up in the task at hand.

Genres
Crime, Romance
Cast
Michel Piccoli, Romy Schneider, Bernard Fresson, François Périer, Georges Wilson, Boby Lapointe, Philippe Léotard, Michel Creton, Betty Beckers, Henri-Jacques Huet
Crew
Claude Sautet, Claude Néron, Claude Sautet, Jean-Loup Dabadie
Rating
7.1(130 votes)
Max and the JunkmenMax and the Junkmen
Select exactly what you are looking for


Detective
Detective(1985)
5.2

Emile Chenal and his wife, Françoise, leaned on boxing manager Jim Fox Warner to cough up the considerable sum of money that he owes them, with both the police and the mob circling the situation. In the same hotel, Inspector Neveu looks into a murder that took place years before, and his storyline overlaps with the arc of the Chenals.



The French Detective

When political thugs murder an opponent's volunteer and also kill a cop, chief inspector Verjeat believes the politician who hired them is as guilty as the murderous goon. Verjeat's pursuit of the councilman, Lardatte, gets him a warning from his superiors. When he embarrasses Lardatte while disarming a hostage (the dead volunteer's father), Verjeat is told he's being transferred within a week. He speeds up his hunt for the goon and, with Lefévre, one of his young detectives, he engineers a complicated scheme to buy more time before the transfer. How should Verjeat play out his values of honor and duty?



La Balance
6.3

A Paris police detective plays rough with a prostitute and her pimp/lover, whom he wants as an informant.



Pickpocket
7.3

Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.



The Outsider
6.804

Philippe Jordan is a policeman prone to advancing the cause of justice by any means necessary. On his agenda is a powerful drug cartel working out of Paris and Marseilles, with a drug lord who is essentially inaccessible -- but not immortal.



Paris Pigalle
5.25

Paris, 1982. Franck and Serge are police investigators in charge of making a good catch in the Parisian porn industry. In order to infiltrate the mafia, they take over a peep show in Pigalle riddled with debts. In attempt to jump start the business, they begin to produce short porn films.



Busting
Busting(1974)
6.167

Defying orders to lay-off the case, two Los Angeles vice-squad cops go after a local mobster and use unorthodox methods to achieve results.



The Restroom Robbery

Max and Riton, 2 thieves make plan to steal money in a train station office. They will operate through the wall in the public toilets.



Maigret Sets a Trap

Four women were murdered, each was knifed and, though they had their clothes torn, they weren't molested. As the famed police inspector Jules Maigret pieces the clues together, he comes to realize that for the elusive man that he suspects to be unmasked, he has to set him a trap.



Le Deuxième Souffle

A gangster escapes jail and quickly makes plans to continue his criminal ways elsewhere, but a determined inspector is closing in.



The Big Combo
7

Police Lt. Leonard Diamond vies to bring a clever, well connected, and sadistic gangster to justice all the while obsessing over the gangster's girlfriend.



Police
Police(1985)
6

Mangin, a police inspector in Paris, leans hard on informants to get evidence on three Tunisian brothers who traffic in drugs. He arrests one, Simon, and his girl-friend Noria. Simon's brothers go to their lawyer. He springs Noria, who promptly steals 2 million francs that belong to the Tunisians. They suspect her of the theft; her life as well as the lawyer's is in danger. Meanwhile, Noria is playing with both the lawyer and Mangin's affections. Mangin is mercurial anyway: intimidating and bloodying suspects, falling for a police commission trainee before flipping for Noria, wearing his emotions on his sleeve. Can he save the lawyer and Noria, and can he convince her to love?



Undercover
4.87

October 2015. French customs seize seven tonnes of cannabis in the heart of the capital. The same day, Hubert Antoine, a former mole with a shady past, contacts Stéphane Vilner, a journalist at Libération. He claims to be able to demonstrate the existence of State drug trafficking led by Jacques Billard, prominent media figure and high-ranking French police officer. Suspicious at first, the young journalist finally dives into an investigation that will lead him to the darkest corners of the Republic.



Cop or Hood
6.3

When the local police inspector was found dead in a prostitute's house, police division commissioner Stan Borowitz is sent to investigate the situation. Posing as the prostitute's long-lost brother "Antonio Cerruti," he discovers a mare's nest of police corruption. In fact, in this comedy thriller the whole town is corrupt. If they were closely examined, Stan's methods for pursuing this investigation might embarrass the police. For instance, he drives into a criminal's house in a fancy, expensive race car. In another incident, he callously blows up a casino owned by Musard , one of the town's crime bosses. On that occasion, he first forces Musard to remove his clothes, and the poor criminal watches his casino explode from across the square while standing naked in a phone booth. Meanwhile, Stan seduces the lovely Edmonde.



Hunter Will Get You
6.55

L'Alpagueur is a free-lance spy from the French secret agency. He's put on the investigation about L'epervier, a serial-killer who employs young boys to help him robbing banks before killing them.



Mado
Mado(1976)
6.4

A middle-aged businessman faces bankruptcy after his partner's suicide and a rival's unscrupulous offer to buy his company. Determined to avoid the trap, he finds an unexpected solution through a prostitute.



Breaking News
6.887

After a disastrous failure to stop a robber gang, the police attempt to redeem themselves through a series of publicity stunts and shootouts.



Sharky's Machine
6.1

Police officer Tom Sharky gets busted back to working vice, where he happens upon a scandalous conspiracy involving a local politician. Sharky's new 'machine' gathers evidence while Sharky falls in love with a woman he has never met.



Broken Rage
6.6

A seemingly unremarkable man called “Mouse” is caught by the police. In exchange for his freedom, he goes undercover, infiltrates a drug ring, and arranges a fake deal, but an unexpected turn of events occurs.



Antigang
Antigang(2015)
5.848

As a rowdy team of detectives clashes with their disciplined new boss, they must catch a vicious band of robbers who are wreaking havoc on their city.



Donnie Brasco
7.5

An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and identifies more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.



The French Connection
7.498

Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.



Above the Law
5.9

Frank Valken, high-flying robber, has just made a final masterful break. At least that’s what he believes… Ideal suspects, Valken and his gang find themselves involved in a criminal case of thirty years. It seems that the crazy killers are back.



Violent Cop
7.222

A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and Yakuza activities.



Masked Mobsters
5.685

From petty theft on the benches of Belleville to the over-publicised hold-ups of the large Parisian banks, this is the spectacular rise of Simon and his gang. They are capable of emptying a series of safes under the very nose of the police who are bewildered by the calm audacity shown by the group.



Blood and Wine
5.733

A man who has failed as a father and husband commits a heist to make money for his fledging business, but things become complicated when his wife interferes.



Magnet of Doom
6.25

Young boxer Michel Maudet is sacked by his manager after a series of match defeats and is forced to look for a new job. He is engaged as secretary to a millionaire named Ferchaux who is in a hurry to flee the country when he discovers he has been implicated in a high-profile fraud.



Cop au Vin
6.1

Unorthodox detective Jean Lavardin is called to a provincial French town after a prank turns deadly.



Touchez Pas au Grisbi

Gentleman gangster Max and his partner, Riton, pull off their last, most successful heist and find themselves comfortable enough to retire in the style they enjoy. However, Max confides the details of the theft to his younger mistress, Josey -- who has secretly taken up with ambitious young rival gangster Angelo. Angelo then has Riton kidnapped and demands the stash of gold as ransom, which threatens Max's dreams of the perfect retirement.



Rogue City
5.891

Caught in the crosshairs of police corruption and Marseille’s warring gangs, a loyal cop must protect his squad by taking matters into his own hands.



Crime Insiders
5.7

A Parisian criminal gang fall apart after challenges to the gang's leader lessen his influence.



The Pimp
The Pimp(2010)
5.788

A mild-mannered banker is forced to masquerade as a notorious gangster and pimp.



Odd Job
Odd Job(2016)
6.1

An unemployed factory worker takes a job as a hit man to make ends meet.



Nice Girls
5.317

A maverick cop and a meticulous detective join forces with a charming ex-hacker to solve an officer's disappearance and save Nice from disaster.



Sleepless Night
5.948

Vincent, a police officer, and his partner Manuel steal a large amount of cocaine from José Marciano, a ruthless crime lord who is quick to seek revenge, endangering Vincent's life, career and family.



Rififi
Rififi(1955)
7.8

Out of prison after a five-year stretch, jewel thief Tony turns down a quick job his friend Jo offers him, until he discovers that his old girlfriend Mado has become the lover of local gangster Pierre Grutter during Tony's absence. Expanding a minor smash-and-grab into a full-scale jewel heist, Tony and his crew appear to get away clean, but their actions after the job is completed threaten the lives of everyone involved.



Fresh Bait
6.424

With the ambition to start a boutique overseas but without the means to do so, Nathalie finds herself in a desperate situation, where she would do anything to acquire what she needs. Along with her boyfriend, Eric, and his friend Bruno, she concocts a plan where she seduces clueless men and accompanies them to their places, then allows Eric and Bruno to break in. But the three soon encounter trouble after one of their schemes ends in murder.



The Brain
The Brain(1969)
7.289

Arthur and Anatole are two little robbers. They want to rob money, money that will travel in a special train from Paris to Bruxelles. They don't know that other people have planned to do the same thing.



The Burglars
7

In Athens a collection of emeralds is successfully stolen by a team of robbers, led by safe-cracker Azad. Things go smoothly until they miss the ship by which they planned their escape; a police chief pursues Azad while he waits for the next ship to set off.



Thieves
Thieves(1996)
6.1

In the middle of the night, someone brings Ivan's body home to his wife and his young son. Flashbacks reveal the relationships among Ivan and his brother Alex, a cop with a cleanliness fetish; siblings Juliette and Jimmy, Ivan's partners in a seedy nightclub; the love triangle of Alex, Juliette, and Marie, a professor of philosophy; and of Alex and his nephew, Ivan's dour, stoic son. Ivan's death changes every relationship.



Serie Noire
7.5

In the shadowy outskirts of Paris, a desperate door-to-door salesman crosses paths with a mysterious young woman trapped in a grim world. As his obsession deepens, his grip on reality begins to slip—and the line between escape and destruction starts to blur.



Squad 36
Squad 36(2025)
6.2

Forced out of his elite unit, a troubled cop launches his own rogue investigation when mysterious killings claim the lives of his former colleagues.



My New Partner
6.594

A streetwise Paris policeman who takes kickbacks from the minor criminals on his beat to allow them to continue is assigned an idealistic new partner fresh from police academy. He sets out to corrupt him...



Joy House
Joy House(1964)
6.419

A small-time con man on the run from the gangster-husband of his girlfriend hides out in a strange, brooding mansion run by two mysterious women, where he finds himself trapped in deception between the two women.



Ca$h
Ca$h(2008)
5.7

A man meets up with two "good guys" to recover what is unlawfully his, taking them on his whirlwind ride, doing things they never would have imagined, just to survive.



Le Doulos
Le Doulos(1962)
7.4

Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just released from prison and is already involved in what should be a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust?



The Anarchists
5.7

Set in 1899 Paris, a young police sergeant is chosen to infiltrate a group of anarchists, an opportunity he sees to rise through the ranks. However, he soon finds himself becoming attached to the group.



The Gendarme and the Gendarmettes

Cruchot's police office moves into a new building. They do not only get high tech equipment, but also four young female police officers to educate. All of them scramble to work with them -- and cause pure chaos while being distracted by the fine ladies. Then they get into real trouble when one after the other of their female colleagues is kidnapped.



Arsène Lupin
5.273

As the daring thief Arsène Lupin ransacks the homes of wealthy Parisians, the police, with a secret weapon in their arsenal, attempt to ferret him out.



L.627
L.627(1992)
7.1

In Paris, Lulu, a passionate policeman, works with the faith of a rookie, despite the sclerotic bureaucracy and the incompetence or negligence of some of his colleagues. In his new position as a narcotics inspector, he tries to keep his sanity as he witnesses the worst of the human condition.



Le Clan
Le Clan(2023)
6.773

Fred, Achille, Max and Belette form a good-for-nothing gang of crooks. Dismally failing their last raid, they decide to get back in the game, kidnapping Sophie Marceau.



Comedy of Power
6.2

Magistrate Jeanne Charmant-Killman doggedly investigates CEO Michel Humeau, who is accused of participating in massive corporate malfeasance. As her investigation leads her into the upper echelons of government, Jeanne becomes intoxicated by the power she is amassing.



Falchi
Falchi(2017)
5.5

Three undercover cops in Naples must face their own demons as well as criminals.



Inside Man
5.8

Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.



Vice Squad
6.2

An unlikely Hollywood hooker helps a detective set a trap for a mutilator pimp.



Le Trou
Le Trou(1960)
8.3

Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of three days, the prisoners and friends break through the concrete floor using a bed post and begin to make their way through the sewer system -- yet their escape is anything but assured.



Lost Bullet
6.596

A small time delinquent, turned police mechanic for a go fast task force, is forced to defend his innocence when his mentor is killed by dirty cops.



Band of Outsiders
7.5

Cinephile slackers Franz and Arthur spend their days mimicking the antiheroes of Hollywood noirs and Westerns while pursuing the lovely Odile. The misfit trio upends convention at every turn, be it through choreographed dances in cafés or frolicsome romps through the Louvre. Eventually, their romantic view of outlaws pushes them to plan their own heist, but their inexperience may send them out in a blaze of glory -- which could be just what they want.



The Thomas Crown Affair

Young businessman Thomas Crown is bored and decides to plan a robbery and assigns a professional agent with the right information to the job. However, Crown is soon betrayed yet cannot blow his cover because he’s in love.



Drug War
Drug War(2012)
6.879

A drug cartel boss is arrested in a raid and coerced into betraying his former accomplices as part of an undercover operation.



Subway
Subway(1985)
6.5

Fred, a raffish safe blower, takes refuge in the Paris Metro after being chased by the henchmen of a shady businessman from whom he has just stolen some documents. While hiding out in the back rooms and conduits of the Metro, Fred encounters a subterranean society of eccentric characters and petty criminals.



The Corruptor
6.1

Danny is a young cop partnered with Nick, a seasoned but ethically tainted veteran. As the two try to stop a gang war in Chinatown, Danny relies on Nick but grows increasingly uncomfortable with the way Nick gets things done.



See How They Fall
6.4

A middle-aged sales rep drops everything to track down the killers of his cop friend. Two years earlier, an older gambler forms an intense bond with a naive young man, who changes his name to please him.



Where the Sidewalk Ends

A police detective's violent nature keeps him from being a good cop.



Pushover
Pushover(1954)
6.451

A police detective falls for the bank robber's girlfriend he is supposed to be tailing.



The Mod Squad
4.327

Three youthful delinquents escape conviction for their crimes by teaming with the LAPD.



Gonin
Gonin(1995)
6.533

Five men plot to steal a large sum of money from the local yakuza, but everything does not go as planned and the men find themselves hunted down by contract killers.



The Good Thief
6.072

An aging gambler on a losing streak attempts to rob a casino in Monte Carlo. But someone's already tipped off the cops before he even makes a move.



The Vultures
5.965

April 5, 1943: a battalion of the Foreign Legion arrives in El Ksour, Tunisia, to escort a fortune in gold bars to the home front. A German ambush awaits, and all but four die. Thanks to the street smarts of Sergeant Augagneur, the Legionnaires successfully counter attack. The bank manager and his seductive wife arrive, and so does a German lieutenant, whom the French arrest. Augagneur wants to steal the gold; warrant officer Mahuzard wants to do his duty. A series of alliances form and break apart, the group dwindles in number, and the gold heads south toward Betahoua. But in whose possession?



Brothers in Arms
6.8

Simon, a Jewish police inspector, arrests Karim, a Muslim, in the bust of a drug smuggling cargo ship, only to realize that Karim is an undercover agent from the military intelligence, whose mission he was not aware of. The two men pursue the narc investigation, which will lead them to confront middle eastern terrorists together.



Night Shift
5.2

Three officers are tasked with escorting an illegal immigrant to Charles de Gaulle airport, where he will be forced onto a plane and sent back to his homeland. But when they find out about the truth, they have to make a difficult choice.



The Moon in the Gutter

A dockworker seeking revenge on the killer of his sister finds himself the object of desire for two women.



The Sucker
7.4

In this Franco-Italian gangster parody, a shopkeeper on his way to an Italian holiday suffers a crash that totals his car. The culprit can only compensate his ruined trip by driving an American friend's car from Naples to Bordeaux, but as it happens to be filled with such contraband as stolen money, jewelry and drugs, the involuntary and unwitting companions in crime soon attract all but recreational attention from the "milieu".



Protect and Serve
4.5

A pair of bumbling French cops team up to take on the underworld.



Mea Culpa
Mea Culpa(2014)
6.363

Franck and Simon are both good cops. They work as partners. But their lives take a tailspin when Simon, driving drunk, causes a tragic car wreck. A few years later, out of the police, he is forced to take matters into his own hands when his family is in danger.



Carbone
Carbone(2017)
6.708

In danger of losing his business, Anthony Roca, an ordinary man, develops a scam that will become the heist of the century. Overtaken by the crime, he will have to deal with betrayal, murder and settling.



Inspector Blunder
6.3

A detective, fresh out of the academy (lowest mark in class), gets the assignment to bodyguard a spoiled rich girl reporter. She's been interviewed on TV and has questioned the virility of a mobster who kidnaps her later.



Hold-up
Hold-up(1985)
6.119

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...



Serpico
Serpico(1973)
7.5

New York cop Frank Serpico blows the whistle on the rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.



Joe: The Busybody
7.211

A writer accidentally shoots his blackmailer and tries to hide the body.



Irma la Douce
7.397

When a naive policeman falls in love with a prostitute, he doesn’t want her seeing other men and creates an alter ego who’s to be her only customer.



The Bouncer
6.2

A tough nightclub bouncer struggling to raise his 8-year-old daughter is forced to go undercover after an unfortunate event.



Paris by Night
6.068

Police commander Simon Weiss, head of the division that supervises Paris’s demi-monde, starts out on his nightly tour of bars, discos and strip clubs, making sure once again that the owners don’t bend the rules too far. Weiss knows he’s between a rock and hard place: it’s obvious that criminal gangs run rampant in his special domain, and even more obvious that they’re protected by higher-ups in the department.



The Crew
The Crew(2016)
6.176

One of the members of a gang of thieves commits a serious mistake that force them to work for a ruthless gang of drug dealers, endangering the future of the team, their lives and those of their families.



Maîtresse
5.7

After breaking into a house he believes is empty, thief Olivier is caught by the owner, Ariane, who turns out to be a dominatrix. Improbably falling for her, Olivier returns periodically, and an impulsive romance blossoms despite Ariane's profession. Soon Olivier becomes more familiar with her work, even joining in on occasion. However, when he discovers that Ariane has a son, he attempts to "fix" her, hoping to give her a better life.



District B13
6.8

Set in the ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and ex-thug try to infiltrate a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb.



Romeo Is Bleeding
6.3

A corrupt cop gets in over his head when he tries to assassinate a beautiful Russian hit-woman.



Police, Adjective
6.439

A cop named Cristi must go undercover to trail teen Victor who is suspected of selling pot in the north-eastern city of Vaslui.



Payoff
Payoff(2003)
4.602

Two very different cops are forced to work together...



Inspector Lavardin
6.2

Inspector Lavardin is called to a provincial village to investigate a murder – only to find that one of his ex-lovers is the victim’s widow.



Let's Rob the Bank
6.5

Shopkeeper Victor Garnier has naively invested his family's life savings in an African mine, on his banker's recommendation. When the mine is nationalized, rendering the stock worthless, he considers himself shamelessly robbed by the bank; it seems only fair to him to return the 'favor' and rob the bank, teaming up with the whole family as they were all duped. Even for professionals such an enterprise -he decides to dig a tunnel- is quite demanding, but for simple commoners it's daunting, as they also have their personal downsides; thus Victor's wife has a most unwelcome tendency to blurt out the truth, even to the grumpy local copper: a crazy risk when you need to keep a criminal plan secret.



First Name: Carmen

The protagonist is Carmen X, a sexy female member of a terrorist gang. She asks her uncle Jean, a washed-up film director if she can borrow his beachside house to make a film with some friends, but they are in fact planning to rob a bank. During the robbery she falls in love with a security guard. The film intercuts between Carmen's escape with the guard, her uncle's attempt to make a comeback film, and a string quartet attempting to perform Beethoven.



Go Fast
Go Fast(2008)
5.872

Marek, a crime squad officer, sets out to avenge the death of his partner and best friend, who was killed by drug traffickers. He asks for a posting to a new undercover unit created to infiltrate a drug gang that imports hashish from Morocco using the "Go Fast" method. A fleet of high-powered speedboats and cars races across the Mediterranean to Spain and then France, loaded with drugs.



AKA
AKA(2023)
6.873

A steely special ops agent finds his morality put to the test when he infiltrates a crime syndicate and unexpectedly bonds with the boss' young son.



The Monster
6.954

A vicious serial sex killer is on the loose, and landscape gardener and shop-window outfitter Loris is the prime suspect, thanks to his unfortunate habit of getting caught in compromising situations (for which there is always a totally innocent explanation that the police fail to spot). Undercover policewoman Jessica is assigned by eccentric police psychologist Taccone to follow Loris.



Assassin(s)
6.232

Old professional killer Wagner seeks someone to teach what he knows as long as he is already dying, and he chooses Max, young and passionless thief to be his successor.



Borderline
5.3

An attorney stumbles upon a suitcase filled with cocaine.



El patrullero 777
7.78

Follows Diogenes as he goes about his day as a police officer. He's prone to do things the right way, surrounded by a pretty much corrupt & citizen distant police department, & always resolves his duties with a personal method.



I.D.
I.D.(1995)
6.607

Four policemen go undercover and infiltrate a gang of football hooligans hoping to route out their leaders. For one of the four, the line between 'job' and 'yob' becomes more unclear as time passes . . .

AboutPrivacy PolicyTerms of ServiceContact Us