The Loner

The Loner (French: Le Solitaire) is a 1987 French crime picture directed by Jacques Deray, who also co-wrote the script together with Alphonse Boudard, Simon Michaël and Daniel Saint-Hamont.

Jean-Paul Belmondo plays a police commissioner determined to track down the man who killed his closest friend and colleague, a dangerous criminal who resurfaces after two years of silence. The picture was produced by Belmondo's own company, Cerito Films, in partnership with Alain Sarde's Sara Films, and it closed out a long run of commercial action vehicles that had made Belmondo a box-office powerhouse across continental Europe.

Critics largely panned it on release, and it also stumbled financially, becoming the first Belmondo picture in twenty-three years to fall short of a million admissions in France. Following that disappointment the actor leaned back toward the stage, though the film eventually found a wider audience when it first aired on French television in 1990.