Kill the Irishman (2011)

[dave jenkins]

A 70s retro Gangland Flick? I'm so there! http://www.youtube.com/user/starzmedia?v=OFrKjNanbcw&feature=pyv&ad=10231859029&kw=trailer

[dave jenkins]

Saw it yesterday--great flick. Vintage autos? They're in there. De-saturated colors for that 70s look? They're in there. Micks killing wops? In there. Wops killing micks? Ditto. Car bombs going off? Boy, howdy! The tag line should've been, You Will Believe that a Car can Explode. They must have set some kind of record for numbers-of-explosions-per-meters-filmed. And it features all your favorite goomba-playing goombas: Tony Lo Bianco, Paul Sorvino, Vincent D'Onofrio, Mike Starr, Steve Schirripa, Robert Davi, as well as Val Kilmer and Vinnie Jones. Ray Stevenson is the titular hero. And Christopher Walken shows up to do a couple of hilarious scenes before getting vaporized. Since this story is based on true events, the filmmakers use that old 70s technique of splicing in actual news footage from the period. The contrast with the newly filmmed material is jarring--yay! This is the new Goodfellas, fellas. It's not pretty, it's tough (mostly). An occasional whiff of sentimentality via some cheesy Irish music does not spoil things.

[titoli]

There are the bad guys vs. bad guys mafia movies and the good guys vs. bad guys ones. Apparently only Scorsese takes charge of the first ones. So nothing or little is said about the Irishman's activities if not at the start (so one forgets it). And apparently none of these guys seem able to afford a mechanic to inspect their cars 24 h. And the casting: just compare the faces of the real characters with those of the actors (just compare Walken with his model). Entertaining, but miles away from Goodfellas. 7/10

[drinkanddestroy]

A 70s retro Gangland Flick? I'm so there! http://www.youtube.com/user/starzmedia?v=OFrKjNanbcw&feature=pyv&ad=10231859029&kw=trailer

this link is to the wrong video

[drinkanddestroy]

I just saw the movie.

I know DJ accuses me of hating on the 70's, but I accuse him of loving it blindly. This gets a 6.5/10 from me.

It's pretty much the same thing over and over and over, car bombs, car bombs, car bombs. (Oh yeah, a gun once in a while too.) You figure that these guys would still be alive if only they'd taken the bus.

Biggest problem is that there really aren't any particularly special performances, with the exception of Christopher Walken, who is only there briefly. The lead actor Ray Stevenson is nothing remarkable. A good cast could have boosted this movie. Oh yeah, Vincent D'Onofrio is pretty good (think tough-guy Italian, but with the phony Midwest  rather than Brooklyn accent  ) A great lead performance really could have boosted this. This story has potential and could have been made into a good movie if done properly. Not everyone can be Scorsese/De Niro/Pesci et al.

[T.H.]

This gets a 6.5/10 from me.

Drink is right.