My summary line making the point that this is a remake many years removed from its (french) original. I haven't watched the original, so I cannot tell you how the two movies compare. I can only judge this by its own merits (and faults). What I can say, is that Whitaker is giving an excellent performance. It's also nice to see Harvey Keitel in a bigger role, even if it sometimes turns a bit comic evil, he has the gravitas to pull it in.
The age old question within this movie is: can we escape our pasts? Can we change and become someone/something different? Can we ever truly repent and is there such a thing as forgiveness? Those are heavy topics and the movie does not stay away from other topics as well (like religion, though it's not really made a big strong point, other than being there). You can tell early on, if this is the kind of "entertainment" you like to watch or not ... the rhythm/pace stays the same throughout (occasional outbursts excluded)
