Mea culpa

French director Fred Cavaye completes a hat-trick of exciting, exhausting thrillers with MEA CULPA, a film which pairs up the two heroes of his earlier films: namely Vincent Lindon from ANYTHING FOR HER and Giles Lellouche from POINT BLANK. These two larger-than-life characters are on the same side, battling a gang of murderous heroin smugglers in the south of France.

Cavaye has clearly learnt plenty from his classic POINT BLANK as MEA CULPA is a film in the same mould. There's barely a slow or extraneous moment here, just constant thrills and excitement as the plot twists and turns along and frenetic action sequences regularly punctuate the narrative with machine-gun precision. The cinematography is top notch and could quite easily show more than a few Hollywood directors how to shoot action that feels exciting, realistic, and fresh.

Lindon in particular gives an excellent performance with Lellouche happy to stand back and support him, and the supporting cast is well chosen too. There are moments of sentiment here, included in order for the characters and viewer to have something to care about, but the emphasis is on the action as it should be. Nightclubs, warehouses, and trains all provide perfect backdrops for the fast-paced and visceral thrills and what a thrilling movie MEA CULPA is.

Violent and amazing crime thriller jammed with intense drama , top-drawer performances and spectacular action scenes . The film was noteworthy for casting some of the finest actors in France as Vincent Lindon and Gilles Lellouche .I n other ways , it feels like a tribute to ¨Polar¨ genre or French Noir Cinema , filled with exciting characters , twisted intrigues , surprising events and lots of action . Intense and intelligent thriller about Franck (Gilles Lellouche) and Simon (Vincent Lindon) are both good but violent cops . They work as police colleagues with no legal means left to them . Simon has been troubled since he killed three people in a drunk driving accident, and whose life radically changes when is accused for killing . Simon is sentenced to various years by negligence driving for homicide charges. Several years later , out of the police and divorced his wife Alice (Nadine Labaki) , Simon is a disturbing and unsettled person . Then Simons's son witnesses a killing , and he is hunted by nasty killers, as he's efficiently back . As a ruthless gang committing a series of violent murders and seeking vengeance . The essential question that lies in the film is the following : How far would you go for those you love ?

This stirring film contains action , violence , thrills , suspense and plot twists .It is a stylish , complex movie driven by character , dealing with Franck and Simon are both good cops and partners who become involved in dangerous and deadly situations . Formula thriller filled with gritty intrigue , crisply edition , tension , suspenseful and lots of violence . It is a flick of interwoven lives structured in two protagonists , crossed by a web of suspense that is resolved in the last story in a surprising finale . This serious and truly original film with groundbreaking narrative results to be a fantastically intriguing story of mobsters , violence , corruption , deceiving and killing , being very well done , swiftly paced and including a twisted screenplay . Excellent thriller in which nothing is the way it seems , the atmosphere is already tense and the twists and turns are the best part of this movie . In other ways, it feels like a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock, full of attractive roles and edge-of-your-seat intrigue . Attractive characters as Vincent Lindon/Simon whose life takes a tailspin when driving drunk, causes a tragic car wreck , and after that , he is forced to take matters into his own hands when his family is in death danger . Interesting screenplay by Guillaume Lemans and Fred Cavayé himself , based on the original idea by expert Olivier Marchal , an actor/director who has written/directed sensational Fench thrillers , just like "36 Quai Des Orfèvres" or ¨36th Precinct" , ¨Gangsters¨ , ¨Diamond 13¨, ¨Mr73¨ , ¨Les Lyonnais¨ , ¨Anything for her¨ . This is a perfect thriller being starred by an all-star-cast such as Vincent Lindon as Simon whose life is turned upside down when he is accused of a car crash and Gilles Lellouche as Franck Vasseur , his best friend and partner . And , of course , a gorgeous as well as good actress Nadine Labaki as Alice , the divorced wife ; in fact ,Fred Cavayé chose this Lebanon actress Labaki for her radiant beauty, as it would make her character's ordeal all the more powerful . Good production design , and nice cinematography by Danny Elsen shot on location in Avignon, Vaucluse, Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France and Arena of Nîmes, Nîmes, Occitani(Bullfighting sequences). Excellent, moving and thrilling soundtrack by Cliff Martinez that elevates the emotion and the intensity of the scenes to new heights . The picture achieved big success and was Nominated several Cesar Awards and considered to be one of the best thrillers of the year in which you'll leave the cinema shaken and moved .

Fred Cavallé did a formidable job with this International title and filming lasted various weeks. Fred was immediately impressed with writer Guillaume Lemans's passion for the original story written by Olivier Marchal , and his vision, stating that he understood that the story was a magnificent and nail-biting thriller . Olivier Marchal is a notorious writer/director and he formerly was a police officer . As Olivier Marchal started taking acting lessons when he still was a police officer .The idea for the film came from Guillaume Lemans who was impressed by Olivier Marchal story , once Fred Cavayé got involved, the two men started out by working on the film separately before sharing their ideas , Cavayé then wrote the first draft of the screenplay himself, and so on. Cavallé is a notorious writer/director and he formerly was a fashion and advertising photographer . He has directed a few films as "The Players" with Oscar winner Jean Dujardin and another phenomenal thriller titled ¨Point blank ¨ with Gilles Lellouche , Gérard Lanvin and Elena Anaya . And , of course , his first big hit ¨Pour elle" ,France (original title or "Anything for Her" ) with Vincent Lindon , Diane Kruger , being remade in American version (2010) by Paul Haggis with Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks . Eclectic and moving, Cavallé is a successful filmmaker . Rating : 7/10 . Better than average . An exhilarating thriller that have you on the edge of the seat .

I found this film rather shallow, with lots of violence and little in the way of serious plot. Simon was an interesting character but could have been developed further, I feel. Violence in films will always draw an audience but if not supported by a meaningful story it's appeal is seriously limited, in my opinion.

"Mea Culpa" will not win any awards for plot originality, and the "ethnic" villains are cardboard, but it's gritty, fast-paced and viscerally exciting, with plenty of fights, shootouts and chases. *** out of 4.

An accident can mess up your life completely. Especially if you're not in control ... Some might call it tough luck, others unfortunate circumstances, but whatever the case our main lead had a rough ride up until now and it doesn't seem to get better for him (or his family, whether they are close to him or not doesn't matter, because he does care for them).

The acting is more than solid and the story is really nicely and expertly told. There might be things that you can tell happening and you might see twists even before they are revealed fully, but that doesn't take anything away from the movie. It just shows you've seen a lot of movies, which isn't a bad thing either. A lot french thrillers seem to be worth your while, definitely this one