mobster tries to retire, a childhood friend orders his execution.
When he survives, retribution becomes the order of the day.
Directed
by Richard Berry Starring Jean Reno, Kad Merad
Why I Liked
It-Action packed movie with that Jean Reno touch.
As
always, let me get the obvious out of the way first. The dialogue is
in French with subtitles. For some folks that’s a non-starter, so
now you know. Oh, despite what some marketing claimed, this is NOT “The Return of the Professional”, referring to Reno’s brilliant 1994 “Leon-The Professional”. This movie can’t hold a candle to that one.
For the rest of us, this one is worth the
added attention required by the language. Jean Reno has become one
actor who, all by himself, will make me watch a movie. He has the
charisma of a leading man without having the typical “Hollywood good
looks”. Every role I’ve seen him in he brings a little extra
depth to the screen. Maybe it’s the Gallic shrug of indifference to storylines that would play differently by an American or English
actor. Whatever it is, Reno is fascinating to watch.
The
storyline here is familiar. Charly Mattei (Reno) has walked away from
his life as a top-level gangster. Now his life is family.
Unfortunately, one of his successors sees him as a loose end. They
shoot him, leaving the 22 bullets in his body, and leave him for
dead. But he isn’t, and now he has to exact revenge. There isn’t
much in the story that will surprise you, but it’s interesting.
Director Berry (who has a small role in the movie as well) keeps the
action moving, with enough variation to make it enjoyable. It’s not
the plot that makes the movie for me. It’s violent and loud. But
the characters are interesting, with Mattei leading the way.
Not
released in the U.S. (there’s that whole foreign language thing),
it was a break-even movie in France. Critics range from lukewarm to
dismissive on it. I’ve watched movies that were much worse. And besides,
Jean Reno.
Rating-*** Worth A Look
Stories Are My Life 
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