I Always Wanted to be a Gangster

Benchetrit’s dry, stylish, black-and-white comedy is especially reminiscent of Belgian fare like ‘Aaltra’ and ‘The Carriers Are Waiting’, but should also please fans of Kaurismäki or Jarmusch; indeed, one of the several  episodes here – all centred on a remote diner – is in many ways a virtual re-run of the Waits-Iggy encounter in ‘Coffee and Cigarettes’. That’s probably, in fact, the least rewarding of the loosely interlinked stories, most of which concern deliciously inept and inefficient attempts by a motley assortment of characters to turn (or return) to crime. Slight, but great fun.