MR 73 - A Última Missão

I am not going to write a review. Only a few thoughts about this feature. It was a lucky accident to discover the Olvier Marchal movies thanks to my European friends. In a few days I saw a several of them and this one easily became my favorite.

The story about lost soul desperately trying to reunite with the love of his life. The only way to do so is to die. The most acceptable way to do it by drinking himself to death. He grew up as a Christian after all, so quick death is not an option. The long struggle helps him to dignify his own death. The sin, the redemption, the death and the rebirth of the character - that's what I found in this feature.

In grimy Marseilles, drunken disheveled Detective Louis Schneider is arrested for hijacking a bus. The driver told him to sit down which got him to pull out his gun. A car accident left his daughter dead and his wife despondent. He is relegated to work the night shift. Unrepetent killer Charles Subra is getting probation. Survivor Justine Maxence approaches arresting detective Schneider from those years ago for help. There is a serial killer on the loose. There is also a cover-up and Schneider is hounded to quit.

Daniel Auteuil is acting through his scruffy appearance and his dangling cigarettes. He is so good at being world weary that the movie in general is drained of life. It's all grim and crumbling without any tension. The disjointed storytelling with the constant flashbacks to the same incident gets a bit tiresome. This movie has the moody style but the flow needs to be more compelling. I think I almost like this movie.

Set in Marseilles where a burn-out Police inspector called Schneider : Daniel Auteuil suffers extremely from past tragic experiences . At the beginning he kidnaps a bus , as he is detained and degrated to inferior ranks to night office works. As worn-out police inspector Schneider is removed from his investigation procedure on a series killer and assigned to a monotonous job .

French formula thriller with intense drama, noisy action , crisply edition, tension, intrigue , suspenseful, twists and turns . The pic revolves around tragic events become complex throughout the movie, adding other issues as Police corruption , justice , vengeance and redemption . A nice cop movie , being realized in Polar (French Thriller) style and competently written/directed by the prolific actor/cult director Olivier Martínez at his best . In MR 73 stands out Daniel Auteuil giving an extraordinary acting as the deranged , washed-up and disturbing cop who finds redemption by protecting an unfortunate woman . Being well accompanied by a magnificent plethora of French secondaries , such as : Olivia Bonamy , Catherine Marchal , Moussa , Francis Renaud, and special mention for the recently deceased Philippe Nahon as a really nasty criminal . Adding a moving and thrilling musical score by the great French composer Bruno Coulais, as well as evocative and dark cinematography .

The motion picture was competently directed by Olivier Marchal . He is a good actor and director who has made several Noir Flicks . He is a notorious writer, producer, actor and filmmaker and time ago was a policeman , as well . Oliver started taking acting lessons when he still was a Police officer . He began in television ,apperaing in supporting parts or writing series for Detective TV series . In 2000 he starred as Commandant Pierre Riviere in his own series Police District . His films are usually played by regular actors as Gérard Depardieu , Daniel Auteuil, Daniel Duval , Francis Renaud and Catherine Marchal . Oliver Marchal has directed notable French thrillers Just like : 36th Precinct , Gangsters , Les Lyonnais , Diamond 13 and MR 73 . Rating : 7/10 . Better than average . The yarn will appeal to French thriller or Polar fans .

I discovered this brutal but entertaining thriller checking all directed movies by Olivier Marchal. I don't regret because it was never boring. There were plenty twists and dramatic moments.

The story is built up carefully with dark and violent pictures. There are some nudity scenes to keep high the attention... I have only one critic: the identity of the killer could have been revealed with much more suspense.

Toward the end it was so far emotionally that I had nearly tears in my eyes.

Daniel Auteuil and all the other actors delivered a superb and cool performance. Finally Olivier Marchal presented a great thriller worth watching.

MR 7/10

Former cop Olivier Marchal presents us with a bleak picture of French cop on the end of the line. While things looked almost hopeless for the main character in his previous directorial work, 36, here they are utterly hopeless.

We meet Louis, a completely alcoholic cop who downs a bottle of whiskey a day, as he in a drunken stupor hijacks a bus full of people so that the bus driver can drive him home. Internal affairs gives him a break and assigns him to answer phones during night duty. Louis used to date one of the IA officers. He's in the middle of a serial killer investigation; the killer brutally rapes and kills women in their home. Even though he's off the case, Louis can't let go and continues to investigate. In fact, he solves the case and with his partner orchestrates a fantastically botched operation to apprehend the killer. This time around he's kicked off the force.

A parallel story involves a pregnant woman whose parents were killed 25 years ago. The killer, now an old religious man, is about to be paroled. She doesn't believe in his rehabilitation. It's only late in the film that we find out how this story connects to the main story. It was Louis who put the killer in jail. She now contacts Louis to inform him that the killer is out. And sure enough, the killer stalks and threatens the woman. Louis who at this point has nothing to lose decides to take on his last, personal, and very deadly mission with the help of a MR-73 a gun that belongs to his partner.

We are told that this is movie is based on real events and it would be interesting to find out what aspect of it is true. This seems to be a very personal movie for Marchal. Once again, as in 36, we are exposed not to the glamorous world of law enforcement but all the nastiness and corruption. We find out what drove Louis to alcoholism, a car accident left his wife in a semi-vegetative state and he has to take care of her. Marchal presents us a very realistic picture of the police force, where ego and testosterone make for a terrible combination. These cops rarely work as partners preferring to be each others' antagonists.

The movie is entertaining to see but there is a lot of room for improvement. Several parts of the pregnant woman's story are superfluous. A lot could have been improved via editing to make the movie shorter, tighter, to present these two stories in a more coherent and interesting way. There's only so much fun in watching a slow-mo train wreck unfold and Louis' life is an absolute wreck. I like Marchal's direction, it has a lot of style but is paced too slowly, this movie is more than 2 hours long and you feel every minute of it. I would have liked to see the serial killer story get more prominence, it ends too soon, meanwhile the woman's story is too drawn out, starting too early.