As I have said in trivia line, this movie, for the last third, is a more than obvious tribute to Hank Georges Clouzot's LE SALAIRE DE LA PEUR. SPOILERS SPOIMERS SPOILERS SPOILERS with Montand driving on dangerous mountain roads, and in some scenes behind a truck wheel, guessing that he has finally made it, thinking he succeeded in his plans before finally....See what I mean? But that's my own point of view. I let you judge by yourself. You also may think of the climax of Eddy Molinaro's UN TEMOIN DANS LA VILLE; where Montand replaces Lino Ventura and truck drivers replace cab ones. One of the most exciting climax ever seen on screen.

I really liked this nervous and intense film, which is at the same time a thriller, a drama and an action film. The main roles are very well interpreted. Montand is perfect in this type of character, which is reminiscent of the one he interprets in "police python 357". He plays a real genius, and the sense of detail which he uses to deceive the police works perfectly well, but will also cause his downfall. By staging his own death, he goes a little too far, and a grain of sand the size of a heavy truck that shouldn't have been there, will derail his perfect plan. I admit that the ending is not very likely, but so what? Does a movie need to be likely to be good? A film must provoke emotions and make you feel, travel, dream ... "The menace" perfectly fulfills the contract! The suspense and the tension don't leave you from start to finish. And if you love canadian landscape and big trucks like I do, you will be even more deligthed! You should definitely watch it!

Corneau's career is a bit of a puzzle. He started with thrillers and is now making sombre mood pieces like Nocturne indien and Tous les matins du monde that feature career making performances (see Anne Brochet in the latter). La menace starts off as a tight thriller with a harried Yves Montand trying to balance wife and mistress, loses some momentum in the middle as fumble-foot detective Balmer sniffs around the principals, then picks up for a slam-bang finish in the twisting mountain roads of southern British Columbia.

Montand and Carole Laure, the Canadian singer-actress, supply the tension after the sudden death of Marie Dubois (who is the best performer in the picture). Although it's not as good as the classic Série noire with Dewaere, this is a watchable film.