Throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, as revolutionaries and scholars made turbulent noises on the streets of Paris, one figure would grab the French collective consciousness by the lapels like no other. Jacques Mesrine was an audacious bank robber, an indomitable prison breaker and a charming publicity hound. In true folk hero style, he stole from the rich, made both French and Canadian authorities look ridiculous and boasted a string of the most glamorous period dollybird girlfriends.
His flamboyant antics inform this preposterously entertaining gangster flick, the first of two instalments from Assault On Precinct 13 screenwriter, Jean Francois Richet; a second film, Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1, will open here on August 28. Unsurprisingly, M. Vincent Cassel – ever a chilling and charming addition to any playbill – assumes the title role and has an absolute blast.
During the opening scenes, our hero attempts to stand down from state sponsored torture detail in Algeria: it’s a moment of moral relativism that justifies the rest of the ride. There’s a compellingly violent, episodic rhythm at work here. Bang. Mesrine hooks up with Gerard Depardieu channelling Brando and cotton wool as an underworld kingpin. Boom. He robs a bank, then, as the sirens wail, crosses the street and robs another one. Swoosh. He makes it to Canada and hangs out with Quebec separatists.

Neither M. Cassel nor his director let their subject entirely off the hook. There are unpleasant post-colonial undercurrents at work and more than one instance of domestic abuse. Still, the gleeful mania of Mesrine’s outrageous fortune has a wicked charisma of its own.
How odd that this subtitled French production – and not Michael Mann’s magnificent though thoroughly arthouse construction, Public Enemies – turns out to be this season’s most accessible crime thriller.