A Coming Of Age/Buddy/Mob Flick!!--Interesting Combo!
Added 3/26/2009
I enjoyed this movie because of it's very unique approach.
It's a buddy flick, because the main characters (3 italian kids)
have been friends since childhood running in the mean streets
of Brooklyn in the 70's. As they grow up into young men
in the mid 80's, one, Mikey (Freddie Prinze Jr.), pursues
college life with hopes of someday getting out of the
neighborhood and seeing the wider world, but he still remains
loyal to his buds and his upbringing as well.
Another, Carmine (Scott Caan), who is the stereotypical cocky,
extremely vain, bravado-ladened "Guido" who we all know
and love with aspirations for the mob life he witnesses & admires
from his childhood idol, a mobster named Ceasar, played well
by Alec Baldwin. The other friend is Bobby (Jerry Ferrara),
who isn't that bright, but he has a heart of gold and is
often the buffer between the other two stronger personalities
of Mikey and Carmine.
This is where the coming-of-age story and the mob flick merge.
As anybody who follows mob history on A&E or The Bio Channel knows,
the mid 80's were a very very volatile time in NYC Mob History
with the vicious mob wars, takeovers and rises to power
of people like John Gotti, etc.
As the guys go about they're lives, they are invitably drawn in
and sucked up into this world because of their friend
Carmine's affiliations. Without giving too much of the story away,
some calamity and tragedy happens in the life of the friends
as well as the neighborhood which changes all parties concerned
to their foundations. The guys have to grow up real quick
and make some serious life choices which will either make
or break them, to become the men that they wish to be!
A story of great comraderie, loyalties, the love of true freinds
and making some life-altering choices.
Very well written and executed by the ensemble cast of both
widely known and local New York theatre actors,
and directed with great care by Michael Corrente,
one of the true life friends that this story was based on.
It's entertaining and worth 4 stars in my book!
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A Decent, Casual Mob Movie
Added 3/25/2009
When you look at the cast of this film, it's hard to believe how little media exposure it received. I hadn't heard of it until I saw it on the Vine newsletter, and I'm a fan of Prinze Jr. and Alec Baldwin's so I thought I would give it a go. The additional cast of Jay Ferrara and Scott Caan would only make this film more enjoyable and enthralling.
The story is set around 3 very close friends. Bobby (The Sweetheart), Carmine (The Vain One) and Michael (The Smart One). One day after skipping church as kids, they discover the body of a man who has been executed in a mob hit. They look around the scene, Carmine kept a lighter and a pack of cigarettes he found, Michael kept the gun he found and Bobby kept a puppy he found. These objects were the representative objects of what these children are to be like in their adult lives.
Fast forward to the mid 80s and the boys have all grown up. Michael (Prinze Jr.) is in college and looking to become a lawyer, Bobby (Jay Ferrara) is looking to marry his girlfriend of two years, and just keeping out of trouble and Carmine (Scott Caan) has become involved in the mob. This is where the boys start to clash on many things, whilst still remaining very close to each other. Michael wants to improve his life by going to college whilst Carmine seems to like the tough guy attitude that comes with being involved with the mob and is staying put. Bobby, well Bobby is just the joke of the group. Still the sweet guy who has good intentions all round. These changes in personality lead to a lot of trouble brewing around the trio, which eventually draws them all into it. This is mainly focused around Carmines massive admiration for mob king Caesar (Alec Baldwin) and a little scuffle they get in at a restaurant one night.
There was quite a bit wrong with this film, but it was all cancelled out by the utterly fantastic acting by the majority involved. Let's get the bad things out of the way first so we can discuss the greatness of the acting front men. Seeing as this was set in the mid 1980s, it was a wholly unconvincing setting as apart from the odd 80s car and the odd person in stereotypical 80s gear, it just didn't feel like the 80s. Also the relationship between Michael and his love interest, Ellen (Mena Suvari) was the most unconvincing thing I've ever seen on screen, and I've seen Godzilla. In fact the chemistry between the two was so non-existent, I found myself becoming exhausted by the two being on screen.
Now the acting is something truly superb and really made this movie worthy of my time and effort. The accents weren't brilliant and at times I felt like they were a bit too exaggerated, I know it's set in Brooklyn and the characters are Italian American but I just found myself not fully buying into the accents. The film felt like a compilation of all the decent emotional bits from my favourite mob movies; but the way it was done is by no means a bad thing. The intimidating and awesome rare appearances by Alec Baldwins character just reminded me why I was still watching this film. It's a mob movie without the over the top offensive language or the extreme violence. It still depicts that but in a more casual way without it being labelled as self censorship.
It's overall a good and enjoyable film, the friendship of the three is actually quite loveable and you can relate to the friendship they have by friendships you have in the way you would lovingly mock your best friend or become over protective of them if they're attacked by an outsider. The best parts of the movie are Prinze Jr. And Baldwin, without them, I doubt this film would be just as good.
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Love a good mob movie...
Added 1/1/2009
Alec Baldwin is a favorite and that's one of the reasons I picked this one. Also, I love mob movies. Can't seem to get enough and love each one.
The setting is Brooklyn, 1985. Although this isn't based on a true story, some of the events and big mob names were thrown around. The story centers around three life-long friends. It's a story of friendship, loyalty, and loss.
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I don't care how many Sopranos episodes Terence Winter wrote...
Added 11/13/2008
The DVD box festooned with an enormous "FROM THE WRITER OF THE SOPRANOS" blurb will doubtless rope in all manner of suckas (myself included), but frankly, I'm amazed it's the same guy. The artless, graceless, completely banal story has no real idea what it wants to be, buddy movie or college movie or love story or wiseguy movie or what, and the 2-dimensional version of Brooklyn it presents comes off like a 1950s stereotype in bad 1980s clothing. Well acted, but good acting's not enough to save a storyline that basically amounts to a bunch of cliches piled one on top of the other. Not recommended.
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Stale but enjoyable mob tale
Added 8/19/2008
This comes from one of the writers of 'The Sopranos,' and it shows. There are real quality lines & a lot of things we've seen before. The performances lift it a little, though, as they are the strongest thing here.
Alec Baldwin follows his great turn in 'The Departed' with another strong turn. This is pretty good entertainment, nothing great.
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