Mr 73

The Last Deadly Mission is a gloomy film-noir crime thriller in the vein of Fincher’s Se7en or Zodiac, with a powerful atmosphere of despondency, the great Daniel Auteuil, the beautiful and fragile Olivia Bonamy, dialogue scenes with dirty napkins in an ashtray with cold whiskey spilled on them. It is a brilliantly made film in technical terms, but the screenplay could have cut down a bit on Auteuil’s drinking. He drinks probably more than Nic Cage in Leaving Las Vegas and it makes the film seem 20 minutes longer than it actually is. But all that diligently constructed gloom still deserves a solid four stars. (15/02/2009)

A revolting setting, repulsive crimes. Corruption, brutality, fascist practices. Dead people, wounded animals. The situation is bad and it will get even worse. There is no brighter outlook. And floundering in this cesspool is a half-sober Auteuil. French directors are world champions in abusing their protagonists, as seen not only in torture-porn horror flicks, but also in extremely bleak crime thrillers like The Last Deadly Mission. Marchal is not interested only in the body and the possibilities of its deformation, but also in the soul, thanks to which the contrived despair is at least “theoretically” underpinned by existential philosophy. The only constants are birth and death, both of which the director ruthlessly throws at us in the climax, which with its affected grand tragedy (he will be named Louis) locks all of the film’s realistic qualities (which were initially present) in a small, dark chamber. I had to laugh at the pretentious seriousness of the final minutes, though of course I didn’t find the depiction of a human being as eternally drowning in shit to be entirely unlikable… 70% (07/11/2013)

Olivier Marchal, a former law enforcement officer and director with a God-given talent, tells another story. That story is that carrying a badge is a heavy burden and it usually doesn't end with the discovery of the killer. Marchal tells the story simply, almost sparingly, and more or less in images. He doesn't prattle on in dialogue and the actors make it all feel incredibly vital, pulsating, and real, like life in uniform itself. The best "crime" film since Zodiac. (16/11/2008)

Marchal once again puts his experience in the police force to use and creates a world full of assholes and even bigger assholes through one filter after another. Auteuil proves again and again why he is the best actor in continental Europe. Bruno Coulais managed to deliver a composition of a lifetime, and the screenplay is not nearly as run-of-the-mill as it may initially seem. And if you can find a more sensual femme fatale than Olivia Bonamy in France today, then I’d really like to meet her. But this all pales in comparison with one aspect. The atmosphere. It engrosses you right from the opening title sequence of the bus “hijacking". That scene is literally everything a viewer (like me) could ask from this kind of movie. And the best part? That it didn’t end there, but continued like that for the rest of the movie, even though the pace was a bit slow in places (although this time it kind of worked for me). If Marchal’s 36th Precinct revived the classic French crime movie and brought it to the threshold of the 21st century, then The Last Deadly Mission gives us hope that it wasn’t just a shot in the dark. (04/10/2008)

The technical aspects of this film are brilliant and Marchal is among the top directors in France, not only in his genre. It is difficult to criticize the acting performances, as Daniel Auteuil is currently the greatest acting ace of French cinema, and he convincingly portrays his burnt-out bitter policeman. The music, editing, and cinematography are all excellently coordinated and fulfill the director's intention. However, I have difficulty with the content, although the script is logically constructed, it all feels somewhat overexposed. All the conflicts are taken to the extreme and create not only a pessimistic but directly nihilistic image of today's France and its justice system. Moreover, the main character is not only imperfect but can serve as a textbook example of a ruined man who has perfected his self-destruction and can hardly gain the audience's sympathy. The film, for example, works with the idea that 25 years of imprisonment is clearly an inadequate punishment for a man who committed a double murder. It is actually an indirect challenge to debate about the death penalty. Frankly, I do not believe in miraculous character changes and the rehabilitative environment of a prison, but a man on the verge of his seventies will already be too exhausted after 25 years of imprisonment and it will be difficult for him to plan and commit further crimes. Emotionally, I simply could not identify with the film. Overall impression: 65%. (21/09/2010)

The Last Deadly Mission is a dark psychodrama with a criminal theme, shot in the style of classic French detective stories. The main role of the broken policeman, who transforms his futile struggle for justice into total self-destruction, was played very convincingly by Daniel Auteuil. The movie gradually picks up the pace until towards the end it uncompromisingly explodes into a crushing finale. (75%) (24/02/2023)