The Last Deadly Mission (2008)

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.

Fmovies: Some movies are saved by their actors.To write that the movie is derivative is to state the obvious .It borrows from many of the American thrillers of the nineties ,the inmate (notably) is another reincarnation of Hannibal. Fortunately,no Clarice,but Justine ,daughter of his victims ,whose part is the most interesting of the whole movie.Her commitment to her grandpa is extraordinary and the scene of the mass for the dead rings true .Her relationship with the hero is more conventional but the viewer really needed some sunlight breaking out.

A hero who has perhaps never deserved more to be called anti hero.It takes a lot of nerve ,a lot of genius and a lot of courage to play such a demeaning part of a fallen cop,who smells urine and alcohol ,with an haggard face who seems to have suffered his misfortunes without complain. Daniel Auteuil is ,much more than Depardieu,to the French cinema what Jean Gabin was half a century ago and besides he ages more gracefully .This part and that of Nicole Garcia's "L'Adversaire" are among his finest performances.The only thing that's lacking is a firm strong screenplay.This one is a bit desultory ,but who cares?Auteuil carries the movie on his shoulders ,with fine support by Olivia Bonamy.

Well I stepped into an avalanche,it covered up my soul..... (L.C.)

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.

The Last Deadly Mission fmovies. In Marseilles, the discredited and alcoholic Detective Schneider (Daniel Auteuil) hijacks a bus and forces the bus driver with a gun to drive him home. He is arrested by the swat force and his washed up career in the police department practically ends. Schneider is removed from the investigation of a serial-killer that is committing hideous crimes against women and assigned to a bureaucratic work in the night-shift in the precinct. Through glimpses from his recollections, Schneider recalls the tragic accident that killed his daughter and left his wife trapped to a bed and life support system. Meanwhile, the sick criminal Charles Subra (Philippe Nahon), who killed the parents of two girls many years ago, convinces the probation committee in the prison that he has found God and is regenerated and may be released. Justine (Olivia Bonamy), one of the daughters that survived, has never overcome the trauma of her loss and is worried with the possibility of the freedom of the criminal. When Schneider discovers the identity of the serial-killer, he finds also the corruption in the high command of the police, and he decides to go to his last mission on Earth in his descent to Hell.

The impressive "MR 73" is a bleak, sordid and realistic detective story from the writer and director Oliver Marchal, who is also the author of "36 Quai des Orfèvres" and "Gangsters". This movie is a dramatic story, describing in a slow pace the descent to Hell of a detective after a tragedy caused by his love affair with a colleague. The police department is filthy and corrupt, and we see that these qualities apparently are worldwide, and not only in Third World countries. The performance of Daniel Auteuil worth an Oscar nomination and the conclusion is the only moment of hope along the whole gruesome tale. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "MR 73 – A Última Mussão" ("MR 73 – The Last Mission")

This movie should not be rated for its plot, or the good guys vs bad guys, or any other standard used to rate normal movies. This movie is an homage. An homage to the suffering, the courage and the lives of the real people on which the story is based.

Every aspect of this film breathes with the same deep respect for what happened. The reality it brings into the room takes your breath away... You cannot watch this movie and escape its grasp.

Daniel Auteuil and everyone else in the cast did their jobs with dignity. They played their roles the way they should be played and the aftertaste is bitter... but filled with reverence.

Watch this movie without reading the plot. Let it happen to you, expect nothing and allow yourself to care.

I'm sure you'll agree; 10 out of 10. Easily.

A couple of years ago, Mr. Marchant delivered 36 Quai Des Orfèvres (basically is the address of the Paris police department); one of the best and most complex cop movies I ever saw; a great film but not perfect. It was not as realistic as I expected; cops were ambitious but no so dirt and the end felt really forced. With MR 73 the realism is all there and if the movie lacks the continuous action of the first one, it improves dramatically aside from a few clichés. The pace however is not Dirty Harry or Lethal Weapon. It is not even Righteous Kill but it is far better than all of them. Based on real and quite tragic events, the story introduces several characters getting related as the events progress. Louis, a drunken and completely finished cop (thanks to tragic family accident and the moral remorse of his own sins). There is a serial killer on the loose (plus other getting out of jail), a few very corrupt cops and a bunch of people more worried on getting rid of problems that to hold the law or protect people. There is not a hint of humor in the movie; in fact it is really terrifying that this tribe of monsters is there to protect us. Giving up more will affect the complex of the narrative. Let's simple state that the end is far more accomplish than the previous movie and the intensity of the situations takes the breath away. A few minutes less could probably had improve the pace, but just because some moments are difficult to bear. Great movie, but aside from the cars there is nothing comparable to American cop movies.