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MESRINE: KILLER INSTINCT
Deja vu (French, already seen)
by Jen Chaney “Mesrine: Killer Instinct” unfolds like a
story that has been told before and not just because it’s based on the life of actual noto- rious French criminal Jacques Mesrine. The problem with “Killer Instinct” — the
first half of a two-part biopic released in France in 2008 and out Friday in U.S. thea- ters — is that much of it plays like an unin- tentional mash-up of the numerous wrong- side-of-the-law sagas that preceded it. Early in the film, as Mesrine (played with thoroughly believable charisma by Vincent Cassel) gets seduced by the wealth and pseudo-glamour of ’50s-era French gangster life, “Killer Instinct” gives off the vibe of a Scorsese picture, a “Goodfellas en Francais.” But later, when Mesrine and his lover,
Jeanne Schneider (Cécile de France), team up to rob banks, kidnap an elderly million- aire and cruise the back roads of America while on the lam, the movie evokes shades of “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Thelma and Louise,” with a dash of the Pumpkin/ Honey Bunny relationship in “Pulp Fic- tion.” Then there’s the effectively tense se- quence of Mesrine’s scheme to bust out of jail. It’s a nail-biter, with a climax paced so perfectly by director Jean-François Richet that it makes us root for a con artist, thief and murderer to squeeze his way through a barbed-wire fence toward freedom. And yet, even as we relish the moment, we si- multaneously can’t help but think, “Didn’t something similar happen in ‘The Shaw- shank Redemption’? Or wait . . . was that an episode of ‘Prison Break’?” The crime drama has been done so many
MUSIC BOX FILMS Vincent Cassel, left, is the star of “Mesrine: Killer Instinct” and the best thing about the movie. Gilles Lellouche plays his cohort Paul.
times, so well, that “Killer Instinct” would have to offer something strikingly fresh in order to distinguish itself. And it doesn’t, largely because the story of Jacques Mes- rine — a French Army veteran who em- barked on a career as a hard-core criminal — naturally leads the filmmakers to touch on every cliche the genre has to offer. And touch on is exactly the right choice of words; in an effort, perhaps, to hit as many key events in the Mesrine biography as possible, the movie often hurtles from scene to scene without pausing for incon- veniences such as character development. “Killer Instinct” manages to show dis- turbing and occasionally grisly violence, including stabbings, shootings and, during one particularly uncomfortable segment, the torture of Mesrine by prison guards who strip and hose him down while in sol- itary confinement. Squeamish viewers, consider yourselves warned.
Of course, “Killer Instinct” certainly has
a few redeeming cinematic qualities, the most notable being Cassel’s performance. An actor primarily recognizable to Amer- icans for his roles in “Ocean’s Twelve” and “Eastern Promises,” he won a Cesar Award (the French equivalent of the Oscar) for his work in this film, and one can see why. As Mesrine, he convincingly acts the part of sexy charmer one minute, then turns into an irrational, raging monster the next, a man believably capable of jamming a gun so deep into the mouth of the mother of his children, you can almost see the cold steel graze her tonsils. It’s an exceptional and committed per- formance. Also a dominant presence in “Killer Instinct” is the reliably majestic Gé- rard Depardieu, who carries the author- itative air (and the girth) of a “God- fatherly” Marlon Brando as a crime boss with a laughably non-French name: Guido.
As “Killer Instinct” comes to an end, the obvious question arises: Do we care enough about Jacques Mesrine to buy a ticket for the second installment in this se- ries? That would be “Mesrine: Public En- emy No. 1,” a film with a title that, yes, is reminiscent of yet another movie (last summer’s John Dillinger biopic “Public En- emies”) and opens Sept. 3. Some may find Cassel’s portrayal of this
complex and legendary figure compelling enough to answer that question with a yes. But others may consider what they’ve seen in “Killer Instinct” and, despite their curi- osity about how it all wraps up, conclude, “You know, I think I got the gist.”
jen.chaney@
wpost.com
R. Area theaters. Contains strong, brutal violence, some sexual content and language. In French with English subtitles. 113 minutes.
BB
ANIMAL KINGDOM
Orphan joins crime clan: Not a pretty picture
By Stephanie Merry Anyone who claims to be part of a dys-
functional family might want to take a gander at the Codys, a clan of car thieves, bank robbers, druggies, dealers and mur- derers, and the subjects of the dark Aus- tralian drama “Animal Kingdom.” The film, which won writer-director Da-
vid Michôd the world cinema jury prize at Sundance this year, wastes no time shock- ing its audience with the breezy way it handles bleak material. A woman, over- dosed on heroin, sits crumpled on a couch as paramedics try to revive her. But her teenage son can’t seem to peel himself away from the television. His eyes are glazed, unaffected. When she dies, leaving J (James Frecheville) orphaned, this baby bird falls out of the nest and into a lion’s den, moving in with his estranged grand- mother and meeting the rest of his fear- some relatives: four uncles, who demon- strate varying degrees of depravity. When J arrives, he finds the group in crisis, as vigi- lante police officers have begun murdering suspected criminals. The dirty cops have the Codys in their sights. It may sound like a cynical ride, but it’s also a highly watchable one, thanks to im- maculate pacing. The story meticulously
unfurls like an apple carefully peeled in one long ribbon to reveal its rotten core. The most troubling aspect of the story
— and its most compelling — is the em- phasis on banal, everyday life. In one scene, Uncle Baz (Joel Edgerton) teaches his nephew the proper technique for washing his hands after a bathroom visit, while in another, a dirty cop talks about taking his kids to soccer practice. This is business as usual. The characters are similarly incongru- ous. Grandma “Smurf,” impressively played by Jacki Weaver, is terrifying. With a blond coif and a Stepford smile, she uses the kind of soothing voice one might re- serve for an injured puppy even when she’s blackmailing a police officer or or- dering a hit on someone. Her son, nicknamed Pope (Ben Men- delsohn), is the unpredictable king of this jungle. He resembles a slow-talking Nor-
man Bates, with crazy in his eyes and a penchant for Hawaiian shirts. When a herd of police officers rushes into the house to arrest him, he offers his visitors a blank stare of boredom. Just another day at the office for him. The otherwise careful tempo slows down a bit toward the end, as police offi- cer Nathan Leckie (Guy Pearce, looking coplike and mustachioed) tries to save J while incarcerating the Codys. This may give the audience enough time to see the ending before it arrives. Even so, the saga remains a spellbinding narrative that gives new meaning to the phrase family drama.
stephanie.merry@
wpost.com
R. Area theaters. Contains violence, strong language and drug use. 112 minutes.
BBB
THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010
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