DVD: Mesrine, For retail & rental (Momentum)

Jacques Mesrine was a nasty piece of work: violent bank jobs, vicious kidnappings, numerous guns-blazing prison breaks, all ending in bloodshed.

So how did he become a cult figure in France through the 1960s and 1970s? A clue comes in his portrayal by Vincent Cassel, who turns the amoral gangster into a romantic rogue, pitted against a society that has no place for him. Non-stop action and an impeccable central performance make this a consummately absorbing thriller.