The Last Deadly Mission (2008)

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.

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.

Olivier Marchal kept his devotees waiting for four years after the great 36, Quai des Orfevres so clearly the main question is, was MR 73 worth the wait. The answer has to be yes. There are, inevitably, overtones from other movies; the detective searching for a serial killer whilst his own wife remains comatose is straight out of The First Deadly Sin in which Sinatra was the cop and Faye Dunaway the comatose wife. Elsewhere we are on newer ground. Where Sinatra's wife had a conventional illness Auteuil's was in a car crash for which he feels such guilt that he is burnt-out, washed-up and a booze hound. Marchal weaves two stories seamlessly - the current serial killer and the one awaiting release from prison, whilst his own wife, Catherine scores heavily as Auteuil's sympathetic boss. Try not to miss it

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.