Outside the Law

Mind-numbingly boring and derivative, this French-Algerian-Belgium film begins with three young brothers and their family being ousted from their home in Algeria in 1926. After about 27 years, the three now-grown brothers (Jamel Debbouze, Roschdy Zem and Sami Bouajila) end up living in France and become involved with the Algerian independence movement. Borrowing heavily from the first two Godfather films and trying to emulate the look of the far-superior Mesrine films, the movie fails due to unlikable characters and boring dialogue. How it was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Academy Awards befuddles me, as it was nearly impossible to sit through this without falling asleep. It’s part of a proposed loosely linked trilogy along with director Rachid Bouchareb’s semi-prequel Days of Glory.