The Last Deadly Mission

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%. (09/21/2010)

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%) (02/23/2023)

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. (11/16/2008)

The French have done it again. MR 73 is one of the grittiest crime dramas I've ever seen. This film is about honour! An homage to the torture, the courage, and the lives of the people the film is based on. The biggest highlight is definitely the birth at the end, which convinced me that I never wanted to see one with my own eyes in my life. (02/18/2014)

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. (02/15/2009)