Fact-based 'Papillon' loaded with violence, short on emotional resonance

“Papillon” - ★ ★ ½

“Papillon” packs all the basic elements you'd expect to find in a harsh foreign prison drama: a strong and resourceful hero, a sympathetic sidekick, brutal guards, squalid living conditions, a warden in a squeaky clean white suit, daring escape attempts and an uplifting testimonial to the resilient human spirit.

Yet, Danish director Michael Noer's “Papillon” ­- a remake of Franklin J. Schaffner's 1973 feature starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman - lacks the emotional resonance necessary to carry us through an already lengthy 136-minute running time without it feeling even longer.

In Schaffner's original, McQueen and Hoffman brought formidable star power to the epic tale of real-life French safecracker Henri Charrière (nicknamed “Papillon” after the butterfly tattoo on his chest), framed for murder and sentenced to serve time in the French Guiana penal colony in South America.

McQueen presented a variation of his king-of-cool persona as Papillon. The more immersive Hoffman transformed into the vanity-free character Louis Dega, aided by makeup, nerdy specs and physical tics.

Noer's main actors Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek seem tepid by comparison, and seldom demonstrate the level of bonding necessary to believe the safecracker's insanely admirable loyalty to his longtime penal pal.

“Papillon” begins in 1931 Paris where the protagonist (Hunnam) lives a daring nighttime lifestyle with his glamorous lover Nenette (Eve Hewson).

In a story “inspired by true events” (read: most of this didn't happen exactly this way), Papillon becomes framed for murder, possibly in retaliation for keeping some stolen jewels from mobsters.

(Because this movie uses Charrière's unverified memoirs as an inspiration, there's always the possibility he really did commit the murder.)

On a ship to South America to serve his lengthy sentence, Papillon meets wealthy counterfeiter Louis Dega (Malek, the wide-eyed actor known for his role in “Mr. Robot”).

Papillon knows that Dega must be carrying a huge sum of cash to make his prison tenure more bearable. (He is, and you don't wanna know where he keeps it.)

After nearly being assaulted by a fellow inmate, Dega hires the well-built, scrappy Papillon as a bodyguard by agreeing to finance his future escape plans.

These, of course, don't go well, and the safecracker winds up being sentenced to two more years, first in isolation, then in total silence (any sound he makes will trigger beatings by guards), then in total darkness as well.

Noer's handsomely produced “Papillon” comes loaded with much more graphic violence (fights, stabbings and one guillotine execution) and brutal language than its 1973 predecessor, yet it doesn't carry the same dramatic heft, or harrowing sense of impending danger, or even audience investment in the main characters' fates.

Hunnam nonetheless handles Papillon's physical deterioration with admirable commitment, turning slightly skeletal during the film's elongated two (or three) endings.

Ultimately, “Papillon” winds up much like its titular character, starting out muscular and tough, then becoming increasingly thin.

<b>Starring:</b> Charlie Hunnam, Rami Malek, Yorick Van Wageningen, Roland Moller, Tommy Flanagan, Eve Hewson

<b>Directed by:</b> Michael Noer

<b>Other:</b> A Bleeker Street release. Rated R for language, nudity, sexual situations, violence. 136 minutes