Special Features
Added 9/22/2009
Having seen this movie in theaters, I'm wondering what special features besides the commentary might be on the DVD. Thanks, Donna
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Un-bleeping believable! Very intense drama.
Added 10/8/2008
This movie has kept me awake for several nights now. Its disturbing and taut nature, the very real language of the guys from that area, and the Greek tragedy set in a realistic "modern" (1980's) situation had me staying awake all night watching this film and identifying strongly with the characters, in spite of a drastically different background. Since seeing this, it's been a struggle to distance myself. I was strongly reminded of my fellow construction workers in NY a little over 20 years ago, to whom I was a "little southern belle" outsider while working as a geologist on a drill rig w/ working class guys of Irish descent (who viewed me as a sort of Martian who'd landed amongst them, but kindly treated me like a sister). The macho but straight-talking guys I worked with sounded just like the characters in the movie, and for those w/ tender ears who objected to the "f" word so often, I have to say I didn't even notice it until I read the reviews. I do sympathize a very wee bit with those with scorched ears - the culture shock I experienced 20 years ago was profound, when I found that the word was used as simply a spacer or to add very slight emphasis to what was said, as in "Time for another f'ing auger." or, "Hey, you got a f'ing cigarette?", with no malice or impatience intended. Since I told the guys I worked with not to censor themselves on my account, I picked up the habit quickly myself for a time. So just f'ing get over it. This is a great movie!
The ashes on the forehead brought back memories of my Catholic school, when even a Prod like myself was encouraged to go to mass and be marked w/ the ashes, and we didn't wash them off all day long. For the students, it was a contest to see whose would stay on the longest that day. It was a little bizarre to see the characters plan various grave mortal sins while still wearing the ashes, but the strong religious beliefs in the middle of a violent society made it perfectly understandably why the more sheltered brother would go straight to the priest for confession and not necessarily just for help.
BTW - I think the score adds tremendously to the heart-breaking feeling of imminent doom for the flawed characters you've come to like. It adds to the feeling that it's just a matter of which one will get hit and how. The score resembles Philip Glass' work somewhat in its repetition of a haunting theme with great effect. The ending of the movie w/ a rough-edged version of "Be Thou My Vision", one of my favorite old (Irish) hymns of all time, was brilliant if you know the lyrics - e.g.,"...Be Thou my Battle Shield, Sword for the fight...". Time-travel '80's pieces by Triumph, the Scorpions, and Lynyrd Skynyrd on the jukebox helped as well. The themes of atonement, betrayal, loyalty, sacrifice, and fate are all interestingly and well-addressed in this film.
I just hate that Burns is already hooked up w/ a freakin' supermodel. There go my daydreams.
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Gets a little interesting toward the end
Added 8/20/2006
The first half of this movie, Ed Burns' character, has everyone asking him if his brother is alive, who was supposed to have been dead for 3 years, and he denies this. The second half everyone finds out his brother is alive and the mob is after him for killing 3 of their mob members.If you can get past the first half of the movie (had to skip a chapter or 2), it gets a little more interesting. All in all it moves at a snail's pace.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Unengaging,
Added 9/7/2005
When I read the synopsis on hbo one night and saw that it would be on shortly, I was more than looking forward to seeing it. I'm a huge fan of good cinema and of everything Irish. Almost immediately into the film it was clear it was a let down. Two medicore performances from the main characters heavily contributed to this. Just not belivable. At some points I felt like I was watching a novice scene being played out in an acting school. Wood really stunk and was actually annoying, and Burn's nonchalant approach might have been to nonchalant. Lackluster performances aside I kinda liked the story Idea. I think the movie could have had some potential, given it was handed over to some writers/directors with a little more potential than Burns. The high point of the movie may be it's cinematogrophy. This one's worth skipping.
3 out of 5 people found this helpful.
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Ash Wednesday: Riveting
Added 8/27/2005
Ash Wednesday is a dark movie with a prosaic plot line and a simple theme. But like many simple things, there are layers of complexity in the fabric of this film-mostly from the sturdy script and the superlative character acting. The viewer is given a New York texture-the old neighborhood, even if the Hell's Kitchen area of New York City was leveled twenty years prior to the action-the look and feel is just about right to our mind for a grim Irish Catholic object lesson with a Johnny One-Note theme.
Ed Burns, and it is Ed Burns' film, delivers a solid performance as the repentant Francis Sullivan, who is seeking salvation from his former life. He's not so repentant that he's above adultery, but his brother Sean is supposed to be permanently out of the picture -so does adultery count? Francis is an intense character, gaining credibility through repetitive phrasing as if the only way he knows the next steps are by repeating them. He also wins the F word award as the only adjective in his vocabulary-although his metaphors are as colorful as Archie Bunkers. Burns is riveting in his portrayal and the rest of the cast rides along on the tracks he lays.
Elijah Wood, in an unusual role for him, plays the younger brother, who is imaginative, college material and forward looking, if not a dreamer-but not above killing three men on impulse and returning from the dead on a whim. Wood gives us a foil against Burns' character. While Francis is focused, Sean is not. He lives in a fantasy world (sometimes). He's angry at other times. There could even be a tinge of bi-polarism in this character. Wood unsettles us in his remarkable portrayal, which leaves the character unresolved and allows the audience to forecast Sean's ultimate failure.
Mallachy McCourt as Whitey, the Irish Godfather, gives us a stereotype, but exactly with the right tessitura to make the neighborhood more Irish than Italian. Oliver Platt is excellent as the rival Mike Moran-menacing and uncompromising, vengeful and the villain-type we all cheer when he's killed. Rosario Dawson as Grace Quinonez adds the anguish to the texture, as Burns doesn't do anguish and Wood can't come down to earth long enough to deliver it. As the wife in love with two brothers and the victim of circumstance, she's a bit like Juliet and as such, James Handy, as Father Mahoney, plays the Friar. In fact, the film has many Romeo and Juliet parallels-a hero who murders to protect his best friend (in this case, his brother); a meddlesome nurse (in this case a barfly named Maggie Shea); gang rivalry although not to the pitch of the Montagues and Capulets; and, of course, the theme that families must pay for their darkest crimes with the blood of the innocent (in this case, the not-so-innocent).
The unrelenting darkness of Ash Wednesday, after all Ash Wednesday is supposed to be a heavy day of atonement, might not be for all tastes. However, with a Shakespearean texture, solid performances from Burns and Wood (and the supporting cast of types), this film should not be overlooked, even though you might not pop it in your DVD player as often as The Lord of the Rings. A.
8 out of 8 people found this helpful.
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