PICK OF THE WEEK
Mesrine: Killer Instinct
This stylish French gangster film set in the 1950s and 1960s features the charismatic Vincent Cassel as the notorious criminal Jacques Mesrine. Cassel swaggers through the entire film robbing banks, romancing women, and trying to stay one step ahead of the law. This story is the first of two parts, and it chronicles his entry and acceptance into the underworld, lead by Guido (Gerard Depardieu). He knows crime is for him when he effortlessly scores a big haul on his first burglary–a terrific, amusing sequence. Making a name and reputation for himself, Mesrine shows his capacity for brutality by torturing a man who harmed a girl he loves, and the cruelty he shows his own wife when she challenges him on his penchant for crime. Mesrine is all about respect and power and the film uses these points to show how the hero handles both—in his personal and professional relationships, and in and out of prison. Cassel is absolutely captivating in the title role, and viewers will be rooting for him from the moment he appears on screen. Mesrine the film is equally engaging, even during a long stretch in Canada in the second hour. While probably unfamiliar to American audiences, this criminal’s story is remarkable, and watching it unfold here, it’s easy to become impatient waiting for Part 2 to be released next week.
ALSO OPENING
Animal Kingdom
No, not a documentary about lions in Africa, this Australian film concerns a teenager (James Frecheville) trying to find his place in a family full of criminals.
Cairo Time
The age-old conceit of films featuring American woman finding love abroad gets an oddly uninvolving treatment in the romantic drama, Cairo Time. Patricia Clarkson stars as Juliette, a women’s magazine editor meeting her U.N.-worker husband Mark (Tom McCamus), in Cairo. However, Mark is delayed, so Tarek (Alexander Siddig), his handsome ex-colleague keeps an eye on her. Juliette is the typical innocent abroad: she wanders the Egyptian streets, attracting men with her blonde hair flowing freely, which slightly unnerves her. She tries to meet Mark in Giza, and befriends a young Arab woman. In a subplot that goes nowhere, Juliette agrees to deliver a letter for this stranger. Eventually, she spends her days with Tarek, who cruises with her down the Nile, introduces her to the hookah, and takes her to his ex-girlfriend’s daughter’s wedding. They share a bond that may be deep, but it is hardly palpable. Instead, Cairo Time raises issues about Arab/women’s roles in society, to no particular end. The illicit romance that barely develops between the leads lacks dramatic tension. Instead, viewers get a gorgeous picture-postcard tour of Egypt. Clarkson is often radiant, and she has a few affecting/emotional moments, but like Juliette, viewers will mostly wait for something to happen.
Centurion
A veddy bloody British gladiator film about the Ninth Legion, set in 117 A.D., Centurion has Roman soldier Quintas Dias (Michael Fessbender) recounting his escape from the Picts, a rival band of warriors intent on stopping Roman conquest. A backstory unfolds to show how Quintas was captured, as well as how, after an ambush, he and group of men try to outsmart both the Picts and Etain (Olga Kurylenko), a she-wolf tracker they can’t outrun. Centurion offers a veritable bloodbath with various beheading and beatings as characters are dispatched in increasingly violent and sometimes inventive ways. Alas, every “surprise attack” lacks surprise. The film also lacks emotion. There is very little reason for audiences to cheer for Quintas, other than because he is the underdog battling against great odds. The film is watchable for its wall-to-wall action sequences, even if one of them, which involves great balls of rolling fire, seems a bit ridiculous. The film’s second half is best—a drawn out chase sequence that features both betrayals, and tragedy as well as Quintas’s budding romance with a witch (Imogen Poots). Centurion is a passable time filler for fans of the genre.
The Last Exorcism
Hopefully, there’s truth in titling as this horror film presents yet another tale of a young woman possessed by a demon.
Takers
Cool and sleek, this heist film looks great; the camera lingers lovingly over the clothes, the cars, and the cash. And the attractive cast featuring hotties Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Jay Hernandez, and Chris Brown make it easy on the eyes, too. Takers is also easy on the brain. When Ghost (T.I.) gets out of jail, he reunites with his partners in crime Gordon (Elba), John (Walker), Jesse (Brown), A.J. (Hayden Christensen) and Jake (Michael Ealy). Offering them one last job—with a $20 million payday—these guys can’t refuse. But is Ghost setting his friends up? Hot on their trail are cops Jack (Matt Dillon) and Eddie (Hernandez). Takers hits its stride in the action sequences—from a thrilling parkour-inspired chase sequence to a heist job that has a “degree of difficulty that is off the charts.” And as long as audiences don’t think too much about the many contrivances—such as an Internal Affairs subplot—or a ridiculous scene in which the tiny A.J. takes on three huge bruisers—Takers is considerable fun. While the guys strut their macho stuff through shootouts and double crosses, only Elba distinguishes himself—but that’s because Gordon is given a crack addict sister (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), which adds a little depth to his character. (As the film’s other female, Zoe Saldana is wasted in a thankless girlfriend role.) Of course Takers is more concerned with action sequences than character development, and on that score, it succeeds niftily.
AroundPhilly Staff
