Mesrine: Parts 1&2 (2008)

Released within a few months of Michael Mann's Public Enemies here in the UK, Jean-Francois Richet's rampant two-part portrayal of the trials and tribulations of infamous French criminal Jaques Mesrine has plenty of similarities to Mann's film.

It's a real shame that both parts of Mesrine got such a small release here because it's an unbelievable four hours of entertainment; most importantly in terms of the film making, but certainly with regard to Mesrine's story, which frequently beggars' belief.

Johnny Depp captured John Dillinger rather well in Public Enemies, but Vincent Cassel is on another level as Mesrine here, it's a tour de force performance that should have bagged him an Oscar nod back in a time when the Academy more or less refused to acknowledge foreign language films.

Part One of Mesrine, entitled Killer Instinct (Part Two is Public Enemy Number 1), begins as Mesrine is serving in the French Army during the Algerian War and shows us early insight into his headspace as he's forced to shoot and kill prisoners and bomb makers. On his return to France and his parents' house, he grows quickly disillusioned with mundane work and through the help of a friend meets and begins working for Gerard Depardieu's gangster Guido.

The rest of Mesrine (pronounced Me-rine as Jaques repeatedly reminds us when news reporters include the 's') is frenetically paced, tense, exciting, and at times jaw dropping as we're witness to the next piece of outrageous spectacle from Mesrine.

However, what really marks Mesrine out from Public Enemies is Cassel's insistence on not glamourising Mesrine's way of life. There's no doubting the character's love of theater and watching himself and his own exploits on TV; with each increasingly insane jail escape attempt or bank robbery he becomes more and more in love with the character he's created, but Cassel and Richet do a superb job of assuring the viewer that his actions are indeed absolutely heinous.

There's so much to depict that two parts almost doesn't feel enough, and if there is a quibble to direct at the film it's that splitting it into two doesn't quite do the story justice.

But by the same token, it does allow you to draw breath, and if a film is producing that sort of a reaction, it's clearly doing a hell of a lot right. 8.3/10