MOVIE REVIEW
Mesrine: Killer Instinct (2008)
Music Box Films
Part one of a bifurcated, four-hour magnum opus, “Mesrine: Killer Instinct” offers a close, nostalgic approximation of classical Hollywood gangster cinema. As a French picture about famed mid-century Robin Hood-type Jacques Mesrine (played by Vincent Cassel), the film benefits from an added dose of fond memories, as director Jean-François Richet’s New Wave predecessors so ably reshaped and deepened the early Warner Bros. aesthetic.
It is, in the best sense, a throwback, even if the presentation of Mesrine’s story also offers an unintended reminder of modern audiences’ decaying attention spans. To offer the film — made during one gargantuan nine-month shoot — in a palatable fashion, the producers have siphoned the second half into “Public Enemy #1” (out in the United States on Sept. 3), requiring a separate admission.