Synopsis
Jacques Mesrine, a loyal son and dedicated soldier, is back home and living with his parents after serving in the Algerian War. Soon he is seduced by the neon glamour of sixties Paris and the easy money it presents. Mentored by Guido, Mesrine turns his back on middle class law-abiding and soon moves swiftly up the criminal ladder.
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Cast
- Vincent CasselJacques Mesrine
- Cécile de FranceJeanne Schneider
- Gérard DepardieuGuido
- Gilles LellouchePaul
- Roy DupuisJean-Paul Mercier
- Florence ThomassinSarah
- Elena AnayaSofia
- Ludivine SagnierSylvie Jeanjacquot
- Michel DuchaussoyPierre André Mesrine, father of Jacques
- Myriam BoyerMesrine's mother
Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Sun-Times
The acting is macho understatement. Mesrine is a character who might have been played years ago by Gerard Depardieu, who appears here as Guido, a bullet-headed impresario of larceny. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
Part One, at least, is a French "Bonnie and Clyde." - 80
Empire
Instantly gripping, with a powerhouse star performance, it'll make you want to speed through the weeks to get to part two. - 75
ReelViews
As biographical crime thrillers go, Killer Instinct is a worthy entry to the genre, although the incompleteness of the story makes it difficult to evaluate on its own. The movie needs to be seen in the context of a greater whole for it to be fully appreciated. - 75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
While Mesrine: Killer Instinct certainly deserves a place among memorable French gangster films, Richet never delivers a clear theme here, let alone a plot. - 70
The New Yorker
Mesrine was no more a movie star than John Dillinger was, but both men could dream, and Cassel catches the folly of such dreaming, with its blasts of thuggery and its rare flashes of style, as neatly as anyone since Warren Oates took the title role of "Dillinger," in 1973. - 60
Time Out
This disappointing dramatization, mounted with generic blandness by Jean-François Richet, makes no case for the man's larger significance, nor does any emotional digging at all. Such detachment was no doubt considered artistically shrewd-it's a big mistake. - 58
Entertainment Weekly
The events may be accurate, but Mesrine is so episodic that it's slightly maddening to watch.
