La Chasse à l'homme (Mesrine)

This belongs to the category of so-called unnecessary films. It's practically the same as Mesrine: Killer Instinct, which was made two years later, but had a significantly larger budget, a better screenplay, cast, and everything else. It is not a bad film, but with such an attractive subject matter like the life and the end of the most famous French gangster of all time, Jacques Mesrine, it simply has to grab one's attention, even if the film was made by complete amateurs. Mesrine was a social celebrity in his time, and his deeds caused despair among politicians in many French government meetings. However, there is a sense of wasted potential in the film, even though it is a television project where you cannot expect any magnificent set design. When a film fan looks at director Sélignac's profile and sees a flood of gray boxes, i.e., completely unknown television projects, they will understand that they cannot expect miracles from him. In the end, this film feels like an episode from a series with a crime theme. From a film like this, I would expect at least one very thrilling action scene, a shootout, or a chase, and that expectation was not fulfilled - and I'm definitely not a fan of action films. Overall impression: 55%. (30.08.2009)