[3] Directed by Jacques Deray, the film stars Alain Delon and Jean-Louis Trintignant as Borniche and Buisson respectively, supported by Claudine Auger[4] and André Pousse.

The opening scene shows reluctant detective (flic is the French slang equivalent of "cop" in English) Borniche, who is given the case and pursues Buisson for three years,[2][5] while the latter evades capture by killing informants and anyone else he feels may give him away.

[2][7] When bureaucracy intervenes with Borniche's attempts, and politicians and the media begin speculating,[2] he uses the assistance of another criminal, Paul Robier (Crauchet) to apprehend Buisson.

She gave particular praise on the differences between Flic Story and American films of the same genre, by the way Deray focuses on the intellects rather than the brawn of the two leading characters, as well as the understanding that grows between the two during "months of interrogation".

[3] Gary Giddins, printing his review from the 16 August 2005 issue of The New York Sun, praised the film as "the most interesting and resonant" of Deray's work, and gave particular credit to Trintignant's "hair-trigger" performance.