Totally Unauthorized

Just because he's mesmerizing doesn't necessarily make him a nice guy

Lee Pesavento told us to go see Mesrine, Killer Instinct (at the Cinearts in Pleasant Hill), so we went.  I trust his taste in movies.

The US had John Dillinger.  France had Jacques Mesrine.  A career criminal who robbed banks and home, kidnapped, murdered and broke out of prison, Mesrine was Public Enemy #1 in France.  Captured, he wrote an autobiography.  His story is so large that they made two movies–Killer Instinct is just part one, you have to go back to the theater to see the other half, titled Mesrine:Public Enemy #1.

The film stars Vincent Cassel who simply consumes the screen.  He won the Cesar, the French version of the Oscar for this role.  He has the intensity of Al Pacino and Sean Penn combined, with Gallic good looks as an added benefit.  Costarring is Gérard Depardieu, who was never good looking and is now approaching Marlon Brando size and shape, which doesn’t get in the way of great acting.

Although the film begins as a character study of the French anti-hero, it spins out of control towards comic book violence and just plain silliness.  Things that happened in real life are portrayed in such ridiculous fashion that all believability is lost as director Jean-François Richet seems to be channeling Ridley Scott at his most explosive.

As we left the theater, I don’t think either of us would have returned for the second part.  But reading about the real life of Mesrine, and knowing that it is a true (mostly) story, I guess we have to go back and see how it ends.