Jacques Mesrine was one of France's most notorious criminals of the 1960's and 1970's. He robbed banks, charmed women, murdered many, was imprisoned on several occasions, later escaped from those same prisons, and ultimately became France's Public Enemy No. 1, which is the subtitle of the second part of this 4-hour biopic.
In short, he was a gangster with charm.
Mesrine is brilliantly portrayed by French actor Vincent Cassell (who also appears as the ballet director in the recent Black Swan) and this first two-hour installment highlights Mesrine's journey from soldier in Algeria to his indoctrination into the French criminal underworld and ultimately into becoming a career criminal of escalating boldness. Gerard Depardieu portrays an underworld criminal kingpin with equal brilliance.
Sometimes violent, sometimes very touching, always entertaining, this is a well-made film that convincingly tells the story of one of France's most notorious criminals...
