Plot
The story of notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine.
Release Year: 2008
Rating: 7.4/10 (10,614 voted)
Critic's Score: 72/100
Director:
Jean-François Richet
Stars: Vincent Cassel, Ludivine Sagnier, Mathieu Amalric
Storyline The story of Jacques Mesrine, France's public enemy No. 1 during the 1970s. After nearly two decades of legendary criminal feats -- from multiple bank robberies and to prison breaks -- Mesrine was gunned down by the French police in Paris.
Writers: Abdel Raouf Dafri, Abdel Raouf Dafri
Cast: Vincent Cassel
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Jacques Mesrine
Ludivine Sagnier
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Sylvia Jeanjacquot
Mathieu Amalric
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François Besse
Samuel Le Bihan
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Michel Ardouin
Gérard Lanvin
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Charlie Bauer
Olivier Gourmet
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Le commissaire Broussard
Georges Wilson
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Henri Lelièvre
Michel Duchaussoy
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Le père de Jacques Mesrine
Anne Consigny
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L'avocate de Jacques Mesrine
Laure Marsac
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La journaliste interview
Alain Fromager
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Jacques Dallier - journaliste pour Minute
Alain Doutey
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Le président du tribunal à Compiègne
Arsène Mosca
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Jojo - un policier
Christophe Vandevelde
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Inspecteur Gégé
Luc Thuillier
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Le commissaire OCRB
/
Lucien Aimé-Blanc
Opening Weekend: $100,242
(USA)
(5 September 2010)
(31 Screens)
Gross: $12,625,822
(France)
(4 January 2009)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia: Eva Green and Marion Cotillard were originally set for the roles ultimately taken by Ludivine Sagnier and Cécile De France in this and in
Mesrine: Killer Instinct. It is however unclear as to which actress would have played what role.
Goofs:
Continuity:
When Mesrine daughter was young, she had a dark completion. When older, she has a light completion.
User Review
Lands successfully between crime thriller, gangster saga and character study
Rating: 8/10
*REVIEW OF BOTH PARTS*
There is a short paragraph that opens both "Mesrine" films; the exact
wording escapes me, but it says something like "no film can accurately
portray the complexities of a human life". This seems to be a
pre-emptive defense, as if Richet anticipates criticism for a lack of
depth or some glaring omissions. After all, Jacques Mesrine is
apparently still a famous name in France, and his public persona lives
on. If even half his supposed exploits were true, the story would still
be crying out for a definitive dramatisation. As such, Richet has
wisely avoided making any real ethical judgements of Mesrine's
character, focusing instead on the sex, violence and publicity that he
thrived upon. But it's Vincent Cassel's committed and exuberant
performance that develops this meat-and-potatoes content into an
unbiased character study of excess and, over all, a very fine pair of
movies.
"Mesrine" may not seem to be particularly even-handed at first because
of the glamour, the wisecracks, and the endless charisma, all of which
are drawn from the rich stylistic tradition of the Gangster Movie, and
used very skilfully in its favour. The fast pace of the story ensures
we are either seduced or repulsed by the central character, and rarely
anywhere in between. Sympathy or pity is irrelevant, and he is too
brutal and trigger-happy to be rooted for as a regular protagonist. The
first film is the slicker of the two, and the more visually satisfying
due to the wonderfully stylish recreation of early 60s Paris (and
elsewhere). Cassel plays Mesrine with youthful vigour here. He's all
style and brash confidence, as endearing a wiseguy as any of Scorcese's
characters. It's "Goodfellas", in fact, that "Killer Instinct" is most
reminiscent of, with its sharp-suited mobsters (including a brilliantly
grizzled Gerard Depardieu) and episodic year-hopping narrative.
By the half-way point, Mesrine is still something of an enigma. It's
only in "Public Enemy No. 1" that the pace slows down and we can see,
through a few intimate and contemplative scenes, what he has sacrificed
to live as a superlative criminal. "I wasn't much of a son, I'm not
much of a father either." he says, while in disguise visiting his own
ailing father in hospital. He gradually alienates his closest friends
and accomplices by trying to maintain the outlandish public profile he
cultivated, rambling pseudo-revolutionary politics to journalists and
threatening to kill judges and destroy all maximum security prisons.
The "Goodfellas" ensemble of the first part becomes the isolated,
ego-driven "Scarface" of the second as Cassel skilfully matures his
character into a man resigned to the fate he knows must be coming.
The over all impression left by "Mesrine" is that it manages to land
successfully between crime thriller, gangster saga and character study.
This is achieved by the virtue of a standout central performance, as
well as Richet's shrewd application of an American film-making style to
a very French story. It ought to go down among the top crime dramas of
the decade, or at the very least raise the (already decent)
international profile of its impressive leading man.
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