Mea Culpa

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.

Vincent Lindon plays Simon who is an ex - police officer. Years ago he was dismissed from the gendarmes for causing a car accident whilst drunk. Since he was released from prison he has failed to reconnect with his estranged wife and ten year old son, It is as if a part of him died in the car crash too. He is now making a sort of living working for a security firm.

His old partner from the police - Franck (Gilles Lelouche) has stayed loyal to him, though Simon finds that hard to understand. Then a random incident puts the lives of Simon's son and wife in jeopardy. This turn of events brings the two friends back together to take on the bad guys and defend Simon's family.

The above is a simple synopsis and actually belies how well crafted this plot is. It is brilliantly directed and the actors are all excellent especially the main ones. It is both stylish and gritty at the same time. The tension is well ramped up and the mood is one that exemplifies the danger almost from the start. There is also a bull fight sequence here which may upset some people - so please take note. This is though a real edge of seat actioner that has a heart and a compelling story line - which makes it very easy to recommend this one.

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.

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.

A very disappointing movie for me as Point Blank (2010) is my favourite French movie and the director of that movie also directed this.

It starts off extremely confusing with a incoherent plot line of clips taking place in the present time mixed with random flashbacks, get's slightly more coherent perhaps 25 minutes in or so but by then I had pretty much given up on the movie.

Felt like it was originally 2 hours or something but then cut down to 90 minutes because it was too slow for them to label it a action-movie and thought fast cuts = action.

And then we get a scene of (real) animal-torture from a bullfighting arena where we get to see a matador sticking knives (again real) into the innocent bull while the crowd cheers in excitement, which was pretty much the nail in the coffin for me.

Well-made action-scenes though, once the action actually get started.