Review of Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (2008) by Matt W — 25 Aug 2010

Released as two movies (Killer Instinct and Public Enemy No.1), like Soderbergh's "Che", Mesrine tells the tale of real-life French Criminal mastermind Jacques Mesrine. Had he been active in English speaking countries rather than France and Quebec, Mesrine would be as well known as Dillinger so outlandish were his exploits.

The movies open with disclaimers stating liberties have been taken with the truth, but when I looked up Mesrine on the net afterwards I was surprised to find that the most outrageous moments are grounded in reality : holding a Judge at gunpoint to escape from a Parisian courthouse, the escape from and subsequent assault on a Canadian maximum security prison, robbing one bank only to run across the street and take another bank.

Director Jean Francois Richet previously directed the remake of "Assault on Precinct 13" and he enlists several Hollywood veterans in his crew which gives the movie a slicker feel than most European movies.

He keeps a blistering pace which annoyed a lot of critics who felt they didn't get to know the real Mesrine. This didn't bother me as we've seen hundreds of gangster movies that get bogged down in trying to humanise their subject, look at Michael Mann's disastrous "Public Enemies".

If you're expecting a four hour French "Once Upon A Time In America" this isn't the movie for you. This has more in common with the Warner gangster movies of the thirties or John Milius' "Dillinger".

With it's many locations it's akin to the Bourne movies, if Jason Bourne was a criminal genius. The second movie loses its way in the final third as Mesrine flirts with left-wing terrorism, but up to that it rattles along.

As the title character Vincent Cassel, an actor who usually irritates me, is superb. By no means a great movie but for the most part a fun one, and easily the best gangster movie since "Sexy Beast".