Review of Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (2008) by Jack S — 11 Sep 2010

#1 is part deux. (whew.) As in the first installment, we get bank heists, prison escapes, kidnapping, and beautiful women. But this one delves deeper into Mesrine's fame and how important his notoriety is to him. (More than once, he corrects people who mispronounce his last name.) We also get that Diving Bell and the Butterfly/Bond villain French guy. As the French directors seem more willing to do, we are eventually reminded/chastisted for rooting for the bad guy. Though of course the same filmmaker made us root for him earlier. (And check out the obviously Christ-like image of Mesrine on the poster--mixed messages!!).

One big distraction for me in part two--as late Mesrine grows his hair out and gets facial hair, Vincent Cassel's amazing resemblance to Bruce Springsteen becomes impossible to ignore. It's uncanny, really.

I'd say this one drags a little (or maybe it was just seeing four hours of movie in an afternoon), but the final sequence brings it all back home in very satisfactory form. And so, I bid you adieu, Mesrine.