Mea culpa

A mother and her child come out of the police station. Two killers drive by on a motorcycle with the aim of killing the boy. And the mother tells her son to run away? Any mother would be grabbing her son and bringing him back into the police station, or just hiding behind a car so as not to get shot. Sending her son away on his own is such an improbable scenario. It's almost laughable.

We stayed in a confused state of mind until the last moment, a far-fetched ending finally revealed the implication of the title. Yet apart from its pertinence to the title, the last twist really seems redundant. As an action movie, it is a passable one, though the plot can be further refined to provide more coherence.

I found this film rather shallow, with lots of violence and little in the way of serious plot. Simon was an interesting character but could have been developed further, I feel. Violence in films will always draw an audience but if not supported by a meaningful story it's appeal is seriously limited, in my opinion.

"Mea Culpa" will not win any awards for plot originality, and the "ethnic" villains are cardboard, but it's gritty, fast-paced and viscerally exciting, with plenty of fights, shootouts and chases. *** out of 4.

French director Fred Cavaye completes a hat-trick of exciting, exhausting thrillers with MEA CULPA, a film which pairs up the two heroes of his earlier films: namely Vincent Lindon from ANYTHING FOR HER and Giles Lellouche from POINT BLANK. These two larger-than-life characters are on the same side, battling a gang of murderous heroin smugglers in the south of France.

Cavaye has clearly learnt plenty from his classic POINT BLANK as MEA CULPA is a film in the same mould. There's barely a slow or extraneous moment here, just constant thrills and excitement as the plot twists and turns along and frenetic action sequences regularly punctuate the narrative with machine-gun precision. The cinematography is top notch and could quite easily show more than a few Hollywood directors how to shoot action that feels exciting, realistic, and fresh.

Lindon in particular gives an excellent performance with Lellouche happy to stand back and support him, and the supporting cast is well chosen too. There are moments of sentiment here, included in order for the characters and viewer to have something to care about, but the emphasis is on the action as it should be. Nightclubs, warehouses, and trains all provide perfect backdrops for the fast-paced and visceral thrills and what a thrilling movie MEA CULPA is.