22 Bullets – 3*

Marseilles is a brutal place, it seems, especially if you are/were Mafioso. Basically, you have zero chance of ever going straight and living a quiet life. This is the premise behind director Richard Berry’s mobster revenge spree, 22 Bullets, starring internationally respected Gallic star Jean Reno as former Marseilles Mafioso Charley Mattei who discovers that retirement is off the cards. It is a Berry project at its most extravagant, offering up what every gangland film sets out to incorporate: graphic violence and torture (check), family adoration (check), moments of redemption (check), morality lessons (check) and bent coppers (check), making it an attractive target for fans of the genre who don’t mind their mix a little overcooked with a touch of insanity.

That said body count aside, first thoughts were of a distinct vein of humanity pumping throughout it, with our primal fear for survival reflected in Mattei’s tender moments – amongst his revenge killings that become a little attenuated after a while, but still do not compromise on the level of close-up violence. The film’s humanity is coupled with a thread of dark humour, best highlighted in the cartoon-like scenario at the start, with the almost incredulous shooting of Mattei with 22 bullets. Had the story not been based on a real-life assassination attempt of an underworld figure, it may not have been possible to suspend disbelief and continue watching.

‘The Immortal’ Mattei is effortlessly depicted by a skilled Reno who was in need of a half-decent lead role after a string of forgettable supporting ones. Mattei is Reno’s first against-type role, a multi-faceted character of extremes such as hope and revenge. But Reno is still affectionately Leon in our minds, not a bad sort and more than entitled to avenge his shooting and those of his friends, so we roll with his slayings, becoming a little too accepting. Reno naturally carries the film, in the midst of plot inconsistencies and a chop and change of pace. One minute 22 Bullets chooses to be a character piece, the next it’s an adrenaline-filled action flick, like a Marseilles’ Bourne.

Kad Merad normally plays a ‘good guy’ but is cast as Mattei’s long-standing friend-turned-enemy, drug baron Zacchia who will stop at nothing to protect his trade – including trying to have his friend topped. Elements of old-school Mafioso dislike of the new drug business can be found in The Godfather and Goodfellas. Indeed, Berry tries for the kind of monologue found in the latter film with Mattei, but sadly, Reno does not have nearly enough of the Liotta charisma to pull this off. Merad plays a brilliant, unhinged master villain with a flare of campness and near hysteria that keeps Zacchia interesting. Another comic actor, Marina Foïs, injects some fighting spirit (against her superior) as grieving cop Marie Goldman who has a vested interested in bending the rules for Mattei to avenge her husband’s death. 22 Bullets is literally lots of angry people taking out their rage on other angry people, only pacified by anti-hero Mattei who is still left as some kind of enigma, possibly due to lack of character development at times.

There are some utter farcical moments, such as recovering Mattei riding a trail bike on full throttle like a seasoned stuntman with virtually limited movement in his right hand (bikers unite in scratching their heads). There is also an unintentionally funny Rambo-style struggle through barbed wire to reach his captive son – in fact this whole rescue sequence tends to dilute the seriousness of the situation to hand.

22 Bullets is full of contradictions: larger-than-life, but equally realistic characters; tender moments inter-cut with gut-wrenchingly graphic ones that are dragged out; and slow-paced, reflective moments, designed to inject character depth, alongside frenetic action ones. It all adds up to a film that is hard to categorise, aside from the generic ‘gangster flick’, without doing an injustice to both its darker and comedic sides. The highlight was Reno in a role so alien to his previous ones that still allows his humbling nature from the days of Leon to shine through. Perhaps Reno’s next challenge should be to play an even darker, unrepentant and evil character, taking things a stage further?

3/5 stars

By L G-K