Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (Day 96)
My Opinion: 8.1 || Exciting gangster biopic dominated by Vincent Cassel as the title character. Thrilling performance. Vibrant writing and direction. Engrossing from start to finish.
My Opinion: 8.1 || Exciting gangster biopic dominated by Vincent Cassel as the title character. Thrilling performance. Vibrant writing and direction. Engrossing from start to finish.
My Opinion: 6.7 || Gritty crime drama that’s more realistic than revealing. The film strives to deliver real meaning and has the right ingredients, but the crowded, overbearing production never gives the story room to breathe.
My Opinion: 7.9 || Dark, tight crime thriller that plays cat-and-mouse with our loyalties and assumptions. Not a roller-coaster so much as a slow-track ride with trick mirrors and surprising turns. Once we get… Continue reading
My Opinion: 6.8 || Good gangster biopic, but the direction and acting are more interesting than the subject matter. It’s the first part of a two-film set, and has a to-be-continued ending that (unavoidably)… Continue reading
My Opinion: 6.1 || A crime drama on the outside, but really a drama about friendships. It’s nothing special as a thriller, but once you stop looking for genre satisfaction and accept the film… Continue reading
My Opinion: 6.4 || A point-of-view immersion into Mexico’s drug wars that emphasizes subjective experience over narrative structure or character development. The protagonist Laura is buffeted by circumstances she can’t control or understand, and… Continue reading
My Opinion: 7.7 || An absorbing, beautifully textured story. The young protagonist is an impressively three-dimensional character, and Nairobi itself is such a vibrant presence that you can almost taste and feel it. The… Continue reading
My Opinion: 4.2 || And I chose this because? I can’t remember. It kicks off well, but the story becomes increasingly hokey and reliant on cantilevered coincidences. By the last third, it’s very difficult… Continue reading
My Opinion: 5.6 || Do the strengths outweigh the flaws? I can’t decide. It’s slow to develop, many of the characters lack real depth, and the director sometimes seems more intent on tormenting his… Continue reading
My Opinion: 6.1 || A good story that’s solidly told. Nothing extraordinary from a filmmaking standpoint, but the movie is entertaining and effective. Although the director does nothing to defy filmmaking convention, he also… Continue reading