Directed by : Jean-François Richet
Stars: Vincent Cassel, Gerard Depardieu, Cecile De France.
Imdb link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259014/
Jacques Mesrine used to be public enemy number 1 in France during the 60s and 70s. The film starts with Jacques (Vincent Cassel) torturing some Algerian activists in prison. Jacques returns to Paris, and soon he gets bored. He accepts a friend’s offer of bank robbery. Soon he is introduced to Guido (Gérard Depardieu),, big mafia of the French underworld. Later, Jacques marries a Spanish woman named Sofia. Due to circumstances, he gets divorced, but that doesn’t stop him from committing more crimes. Later, he meets a woman named Jeanne Schneider (Cecile De France) and they quickly fall in love. Jeanne is into crime, and together they commit bank robberies. Jacques is a gangster, but he has some principles as well. He doesn’t kill unarmed people. He steals only from banks because there is enough money. Vincent Cassel is perfect as the main lead of this film. He has that perfect aura to depict the role of a gangster-like Jacques. Jacques was very cautious about his celebrity status as well. When he got caught in Canada, he gave some sound bytes to their press. Gérard Depardieu is a seasoned actor. Guido is a responsible person, yet he can be menacing when it is needed. Depardieu does that very well. The film has some great scenes, such as the one in which Mesrine meets Depardieu and the two become colleagues after threatening to kill one another. The bank robbery scenes and the jailbreak scene were tense. In the first part, director Jean-Francois Richet tried to capture the person as much as he could. My only grouse is that the film could have spent some time showing his youth days.
debarshithecinemaniac 