Showing posts with label new york city. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new york city. Show all posts

Friday, September 18, 2009

Dead Of Winter (1987)


Directed by: Arthur Penn
Written by: Marc Shmuger + Mark Malone
Starring: Mary Steenburgen, Roddy McDowell, Jan Rubes, William Russ, Ken Pogue, Wayne Robson, Mark Malone

Mary Steenburgen plays Katie, a down on her luck actress who is told that she is being considered to take over a film role that was being played by someone else who greatly resembles her. The casting director (Roddy McDoweel) tell her that the first actress had a breakdown and ran away from the set. She is taken to a snowbound country house in remote upstate New York to film an audition tape for the eldery, wheelchair bound producer (Jan Rubes.) After she arrives, things begin to look as if they are not what they seem. Katie soon realizes she is in incredible danger and attempts escape.

With a premise straight out of a 40's suspense melodrama, I didn't expect much from this film. Like most bad thrillers, the most entertaining portions of the film occur in the last twenty minutes, after the damsel in distress finally pieces things together and has to fight for her life. But the majority of the movie is just tedious set-up and scenes of Katie acting like an idiot as she uncovers what her hosts are really up to.

Is she so desperate for a job that she'd go to a remote house out in the country with a complete stranger, just to shoot an audition tape? If you see your drivers license burning in a fireplace, would you not automatically question your hosts? The movie is filled with situations where Katie is forced to do something stupid in order to move the story along. I've seen this so many times in so many of these kinds of movies, but at least sometimes it's exciting. Not here.



Like I said, things pick up in the last act. When Katie's evil Doppelgänger shows up, things get interesting, mainly because we get to see Steenburgen play two different roles, one timid and afraid, the other heartless and evil. Unfortunately for the film, but not for me, their final confrontation is so absurdly shot and choreographed, the scene intended to be tense turns out to be hilarious camp straight out of a Joan Crawford or Bette Davis thriller from the twilight of their careers.

To sum things up the movie isn't a complete disaster, it's just too derivative of films of the past, and doesn't add anything new to the 'woman in distress' thriller sub-genre. Steenburgen is pretty good, even if her character can be a complete idiot at times, and Roddy McDowell has some demented fun when the shit finally hits the fan during the climax.



Final Verdict: See It (if you don't mind cliches.)

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Nickelodeon (1976)


Directed by: Peter Bogdanovich
Written by: Peter Bogdanovich + W.D. Richter
Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, Tatum O'Neal, Brian Keith, Stella Stevens, John Ritter, Jane Hitchcock, Jack Perkins

This homage to the childhood days of the motion pictures starts in 1910, when the young attorney Leo Harrigan (Ryan O'Neal) by chance meets a motion picture producer. Immediately he's invited to become a writer for him - the start of a sensational career. Soon he's promoted to a director and shoots one silent movie after the other in the tiny desert village of Cacamonga with a small crew of actors. But the competition is hard: the patent agency sends out Buck Greenway (Burt Reynolds) to sabotage them. When they visit L.A., his crew is surprised by a new species: fans!

This movie has many problems. The biggest one being it's running time. At over two hours, it's just way too long for a comedy, especially one that aspires to recreate the screwball humor of the olden days. The second problem is the confusing tone. One moment it's a love story, the next it's a slapstick comedy, then it's a history of early filmmaking, then it's a melodrama, then back to comedy. Repeat that for over two hours and things get pretty tiresome. Because of the constant jerking of the tone, none of the leads make much of an impression with their characters.


The slapstick comedy that worked so well in director Bogdanovich's hilarious 'What's Up Doc?' falls flat on it's face here. If Bogdanovich hadn't used such a heavy-handed slapstick, there might have emerged a fond tribute to the pioneering days of silent films in the early part of the 20th Century. But instead, he has filled the movie with a whole series of non-stop sight gags that become tiresome and repetitious, even more so because none of the characters involved really come to life. As the pretty heroine of the piece, Jane Hitchcock has very limited abilities beyond staring wide-eyed into the camera lens. Burt Reynolds at least does derive several good chuckles from his comedy efforts as a reluctant participant in the troupe of silent film actors. Younger and elder O'Neal are not too bad, but Ryan is never as funny as he was in 'What's Up Doc?' and Tatum, whose performance in 'Paper Moon' is still the best child performance ever on film, isn't very memorable here.

Technically, the film is handsomely produced and pleasing to look at in color, but it plods along without the benefit of a tight script or a really compelling story and suffers, mainly, from the heavy-handed approach to comedy.


Final Verdict: Skip It

Friday, September 11, 2009

The Apartment (1960)


Directed by: Billy Wilder
Written by: Billy Wilder + I.A.L. Diamond
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee

Bud Baxter (Lemmon) is a struggling clerk in a huge New York insurance company. He's discovered a quick way to climb the corporate ladder - by lending out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses. He often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits and one night he's left with a major problem to solve, when the girl he loves, Fran Kubelik (MacLaine,) who also happens to be the mistress of his boss, tries to kill herself in his bedroom.

I expected so much from this film, as it's always referred to as a classic. In my opinion, it's a ridiculously overrated film. The main characters are absurd and their motivations make little sense. The supporting cast plays characters right out of a comic book. All this superficiality and absurdity wouldn't matter at all if only this were a proper comedy. Unfortunately, it isn't one. This is a romantic melodrama with some humorous one liners.

The film plays up the near-perfection and integrity of its two main leads, but it simply doesn't wash in MacLaine's case. If she is such an angel why is she a home-wrecker who goes out with a married man with kids? Her suicide attempt is too far-fetched and overly dramatic. And what's with Lemmon's character? This guy is so self-sacrificing and noble that he should have been nailed to the cross in the last scene.

The basic plot outline of the film is good and there was real potential there for a terrific situation comedy, but Billy Wilder took the easy route and turned this into a schmaltzy romance film with the Hollywood violins accompanying every schmaltzy scene. The charisma of the two leads simply isn't enough to drag this movie out of the mud. The jokes and gags that there are, are mostly primitive and outdated at best.



Final Verdict: Skip It

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Barefoot In the Park (1967)


Directed by
: Gene Saks
Written by: Neil Simon
Starring: Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Charles Boyer, Mildred Natwick, Herb Edelman

Robert Redford plays Paul Bratter, a conservative young lawyer, just married to a vivacious young woman, Corrie, played by Jane Fonda. Their highly passionate relationship descends into comical discord in a five-flight New York City walk-up apartment.

The only reason to check out this horribly dated comedy are the performances by Charles Boyer and Mildred Natwick, who play the eccentric upstairs neighbor and Corrie's uptight mother, respectively. Whenever they are on screen the movie comes alive with a comic energy that is absent in the rest of the film.

Redford and Fonda are alright but forgettable, and like most of the Neil Simon movie adaptations, the dialogue is corny and dated. In their day, Simon's plays must have been great on stage, but every film adaptation has the same kind of inoffensive and milquetoast humor that only Park Avenue types still find funny. After a while it just gets boring. Boyer and Natwick manage to make it work, but Fonda and Redford just sound like actors reciting dialogue from a play.



Final Verdict: See It for Charles Boyer and Mildred Natwick

Mighty Aphrodite (1995)


Directed by
: Woody Allen
Written by: Woody Allen
Starring: Woody Allen, Mira Sorvino, F. Murray Abraham, Helena Bonham Carter, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Rapaport, David Ogden Stiers, Jack Warden, Peter Weller, Danielle Ferland

Sportswriter Lenny Weinrib (Allen) and his wife (Bonham-Carter) adopt a baby from an anonymous mother. After a few years pass, Lenny starts to wonder about the woman. Curiosity quickly gets the better of him, so he steals files from the adoption agency and sets out to find her. Lenny is dismayed, maybe even terrified, to find that Linda (Sorvino,) the mother, is a beautiful $200-an-hour prostitute. So that he can fashion the proper mother-son reunion and save himself from what fate seems to have in store, he determines to 'reform' Linda. Interwoven throughout the story is a greek chorus (including F. Murray Abraham and Olympia Dukakis,) who add their own unique take on the proceedings.

I've always preferred Woody Allen's comedies over his dramas. This one is probably one of my favorites. This film is a great example of Woody Allen showing no interest in convincing his audience into swallowing down some serious morals. It's light, fluffy, shamelessly sentimental and does not suffer a bit because of it. The plot is generally an uplifting tale of changing ones life for the better, and intertwined with this is some of Woody Allen's best humour. There are many entertaining characters, especially Mira Sorvino's prostitute and Michael Rapaport's dim-witted boxer, Kevin.

The stand-out here is Mira Sorvino. She is absolutely enthralling, with her ditsy nature and confidence masking a timid vulnerability, all of which earned her a well deserved Oscar. Linda could have been an over the top, cartoonish character, Pygmalion on crack. But under the careful direction of Allen, Sorvino gives the best performance of her career so far, and one of the funniest performances ever.



Final Verdict: See It

Monday, September 7, 2009

Exposed (1983)


Directed by: James Toback
Written by: James Toback
Starring: Nastassja Kinski, Rudolf Nureyev, Harvey Keitel, Ian McShane, Bibi Andersson, Ron Randell

Every once in a while, you see a movie so dull and so stupid, you have to wonder if drugs were somehow involved in making the film. 'Exposed' is one of those films.

The plot of this film doesn't unravel, it oozes like molasses in January. Nastassja Kinski plays a Wisconsin farm girl named Elizabeth who leaves home and runs away to New York. After being discovered by a fashion photographer (McShane) she is whisked away into the glamorous world of fashion. Soon she's in Europe, and is recruited by a mysterious violin player (the awful corpse-like Rudolf Nureyev) to infiltrate a terrorist organization and kill it's leader. The leader is played by Harvey Keitel, who is given next to nothing to do.

The only good scene is at the very beginning when two terrorist babes blow up a Parisian restaurant. But it all goes downhill from there. In more capable hands and with a better cast, this film could have been good. But everything is a mess. The script is convoluted and boring, the acting is atrocious, the direction is flat, there is no suspense, and no characters that seem even human.

Oddly, so many people seem to praise Nastassja Kinski as a great actress. I've just never seen it. In every film I've seen her in she just seems vacant and bored, but this is Kinski at her worst, no doubt.



Final Verdict: Skip It

Friday, September 4, 2009

The Dark Half (1993)


Directed by: George A. Romero
Written by: Stephen King; George A. Romero
Starring: Timothy Hutton, Mary Beth Hurt, Michael Rooker, Julie Harris, Robert Joy, Kent Broadhurst, Beth Grant, Rutanya Alda

There are only a small handful of films based on works by Stephen King that can without a doubt be classified as 'great movies.' They are 'Carrie,' 'The Shining,' 'Misery,' 'Dolores Claiborne,' 'The Dead Zone,' 'Stand By Me' and 'Cujo.' All the others range from 'flawed' to 'awful.'

Despite it's decent cast, and respected horror director Romero at the helm, 'The Dark Half' lies more towards the awful end of the spectrum. The filmmakers gave it their best shot but things just didn't work out. It fails as a horror film in terms of suspense, plausibility, and narrative.

When Thad Beaumont (Hutton) was a child, he had an operation to remove a tumor from his brain. During the operation, it was discovered that far from being a tumor, the growth was a twin brother of Thad's that never developed. Years later, Thad is a successful author, writing his serious books under his own name, and his trashy money-makers under the pseudonum 'George Stark.' When blackmailed by someone who has discovered his secret, Thad publically 'buries' George Stark. From that point on, Thad increasingly becomes the prime suspect in a series of gruesome murders.

Of all the King adaptations I've seen, this is one of the dullest. The main character is unsympathetic, his alter ego is two dimensional and totally hammy, you don't care about any of the victims (much less even know who they are at some points,) and there is hardly any horror and next to no tension.

However, there is some good production design and cinematography on display here, as well as some striking images. Huge flocks of sparrows gathering as an omen of doom is a haunting sight. But that alone can't save this film, which is just another King adaptation from a period where almost everything he'd write would end up being made into a movie.



Final Verdict: Skip It

Dante's Inferno (1935)


Directed by
: Harry Lachman
Written by: Philip Klein + Robert Yost
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Claire Trevor, Henry B. Walthall, Alan Dinehart, Scotty Beckett, Robert Gleckler, Rita Hayworth

Spencer Tracy plays a man who lucks into carnival barking as a result of meeting a man, played by Henry B. Walthall, who runs a concession known as 'Dante's Inferno.' Walthall soon becomes Tracy's father-in-law, and Tracy becomes a successful businessman. He launches a huge, gaudy Inferno employing ruthless means to get the property. Though a wonderful husband and father, in his corporate world, he stops at nothing to get what he wants, including cheating, bribery, and ignoring possible dangers. The consequences are disastrous.

This film features three giant set pieces that must have thrilled audiences in 1935. Two of them are large scale disasters, the first on the boardwalk pier and the second aboard a luxury liner. But the most memorable and eye popping of these set pieces is a lengthy dream sequence where Tracy descends into hell. We see mountains of tortured souls writhing naked in lava, masses of hooded demons marching into oblivion, the damned, suffering, screaming as they are tortured for all eternity. Even if you don't believe a hell exists, this is some visually powerful stuff.

Unfortunately, besides these memorable sequences the story is pretty routine. Poor man makes it big, destroys his soul in the process, and in the end repents to his loving wife (only after countless people are killed by his greed and carelessness. Twice.) At times it seems that the rest of the film was written around the amazing dream sequence. They needed a story to lead into that trip through the underworld, and what they came up with was pretty routine. But no matter, for the film features some amazing special effects for that era, some that could still impress today.



Final Verdict: See It

Thursday, September 3, 2009

A Night To Remember (1942)


Directed by
: Richard Wallace
Written by: Richard Flournoy + Jack Henley
Starring: Loretta Young, Brian Aherne, Jeff Donnell, William Wright, Sidney Toller, Gale Sondergaard, Donald MacBride, Lee Patrick

In this quaint, serviceable comedy, a mystery writer and his wife move into a basement apartment at 13 Gay Street in Greenwich Village. The whole house has a sinister air and the other tenants seem hostile and frightened. The discovery of a murdered body outside the couple's back door doesn't help the atmosphere.

What this film really is is a knock-off of the popular 'Thin Man' series starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. 'A Night to Remember' tries to reproduce the witty banter and screwball crime solving done so wonderfully in those films, and it is only somewhat successful.

Young and Aherne have good chemistry, and the supporting actors are all game, but most of the humor is forced, and the mystery, taking a backseat to the comic antics, is only somewhat intriguing and borders on implausible. The cinematography is pretty good, making the dark shadows of the apartment sinister, but the entire production reeks from budget constraints and looks cheap.



Final Verdict: If you've seen the brilliant first three 'Thin Man' films, don't bother with this one. You've already seen the best and you'll be disappointed here. However, if you haven't seen them yet, check this out, and then rent 'The Thin Man' movies and you'll appreciate them so much more.

Roseland (1977)


Directed by
: James Ivory
Written by: Ruth Prawler Jhabvala
Starring: Teresa Wright, Lou Jacobi, Don De Natale, Louise Kirtland, Geraldine Chaplin, Helen Gallagher, Joan Copeland, Christopher Walken, Conrad Janis, Jayne Heller, Lilia Skala, David Thomas

'Roseland' is a film made up of three separate stories set in the legendary Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan. The first, entitled 'The Waltz' features the wonderful Teresa Wright as a widow who comes to Roseland in order to sustain the memory of her late husband. She meets Stan (Lou Jacobi), who offers her an opportunity for happiness in the present. 'The Hustle' concerns Christopher Walken as a gigolo with three women in his life, all of whom depend on him for different degrees of romance and companionship. In the final story, 'The Peabody,' an older woman (Lilia Skala) sets out to win a dance competition despite warnings that it could endanger her health.

All three segments are sensitive portrayals of different kinds of lonely people seeking some sort companionship and/or fulfillment. Out of the three, only 'The Waltz' is truly memorable, thanks to the great performances from Wright and Jacobi. The performances in the other two are good, but don't top those in the first.

The cinematography captures the dance floor activities wonderfully, and the entire film has an eerie, otherworldly quality to it. It's as if when these people step off the cruel New York streets, they are transported into another world. A world that is full of music, romance, and possibilities.

Final Verdict: See It

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

The Window (1949)


Directed by
: Ted Tetzlaff
Written by: Cornell Woolrich; Mel Dinelli
Starring: Bobby Driscoll, Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart, Ruth Roman

Now here is a great little film! I've been wanting to watch this for a couple years now, but since it is unavailable on DVD or VHS, it was impossible. Thank goodness for Turner Class Movies!

The story is simple. A little boy has a bad habit of making up wild stories to impress his friends and family. When he's sleeping out on his fire escape one sweltering summer night, he witnesses his upstairs neighbors murder a man. When he tells his mother and father, not surprisingly, they think he's making it all up or that he's had a bad dream. When the killers upstairs get wind that the little boy knows about their crime, the decide to kill him. So it's up to the boy to prove he's not lying and evade the killers.

'The Window' has many things in common with the much better known 'Rear Window.' For one thing, they're both based off of short stories written by Cornell Woolrich. Themes of voyeurism, murder, urban paranoia, and being trapped and defenseless dominate both films. 'Rear Window' is clearly the better film all around, but 'The Window' deserves to be released on DVD so it can be rediscovered and celebrated for the tight, compelling, suspenseful noir classic that it is.



Final Verdict: See It

While the City Sleeps (1956)


Directed by
: Fritz Lang
Written by: Charles Einstein; Casey Robinson
Starring: Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, Sally Forrest, John Barrymore Jr., James Craig, Ida Lupino

Famed European director Fritz Lang was responsible for such classics as 'Metropolis,' 'M,' and 'Scarlet Street,' among others. However, he made this film when his career was, sadly, in decline.

The plot involves a group of newspaper reporters trying to 'scoop' the others by finding out the identity of a mysterious serial killer murdering young women in New York City. The reporter who gets the scoop will be given a powerful position at the newspaper. What follows is an overlong, contrived, often dumb film filled with too many characters and too many subplots.

Out of the large cast, the only two performers who salvage their characters from the muddled script are George Sanders and Ida Lupino, who play an ambitious reporter and his scheming gossip columnist lover.

The cinematography at times is interesting and you can tell Lang hadn't completely lost his touch yet. The sequences involving the killer are particularly well shot and suspenseful. The rest of the movie, however, is pretty flat.



Final Verdict: Skip It

Hester Street (1975)


Directed by
: Joan Micklin Silver
Written by: Abraham Cahan; Joan Micklin Silver
Starring: Carol Kane, Steven Keats, Mel Howard, Paul Freedman, Doris Roberts, Lauren Frost

I didn't expect this film to be very exciting, and it wasn't. But it was however a thoughtful, low-key story of a husband and wife dealing with their differences in regards to century old traditions.

Carol Kane plays Gitl, a turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrant arriving from Eastern Europe to live with her husband in America. When she arrives in New York City she is surprised at how traditions held dear back home are thought of as 'uncivilized' here.

For example: Her husband has shaved his beard, and the women no longer wear kerchiefs or wigs to cover their natural hair. This unnerves her and as the film progresses Gitl and her husband grow apart. Even after Gitl is given a 'makeover' by Mrs. Kavarsky (the great Doris Roberts) she knows that it's too late. Her husband is in love with another woman and wants a divorce.



The pace in this movie is very slow, and the black and white cinematography is all but stagnant. But any other artistic approach to this story wouldn't ring true. The world back then for a Jewish immigrant was very slow paced. There wasn't alot of color in their lives. And for women, sitting around their tiny apartments was all most would do.

Carol Kane was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in this, but lost (deservedly) to Louise Fletcher for 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.' Kane would go on to star in the 1979 cult horror film 'When A Stranger Calls' and then transition into comedy roles that relied on her infectious goofiness. It was really interesting to see Kane play such a low-key, subdued character here, so different from the roles she's more famous for in shows like 'Taxi' or films like 'The Princess Bride' and 'Scrooged.'



Final Verdict: See It

Blue Steel (1989)


Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
Written by: Kathryn Bigelow + Eric Red
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver, Clancy Brown, Elizabeth Pena, Louise Fletcher, Philip Bosco, Kevin Dunn, Richard Jenkins

There have always been so few female directors working in mainstream cinema, I always try to see as many of their films as I can. In this case it was a film by Kathryn Bigelow, 1989's cop thriller 'Blue Steel.'

Jamie Lee Curtis plays a rookie cop who guns down a robber in a grocery store hold-up. Unbeknownst to her, a stockbroker, played by Ron Silver, picks up the crooks gun. Soon he's obsessed with Curtis and out in the streets at night murdering random people. He tracks her down, stalks her, even takes her to dinner. When Curtis finds out that he's the madman responsible for the murders plaguing the city, they both enter into a deadly game of cat and mouse.

I've always found Kathryn Bigelow interesting. Unlike acclaimed female directors like Jane Campion and Mira Nair, Bigelow's films are aggressive, even masculine. Some of her credits include 'Near Dark,' 'Point Break,' 'Strange Days,' and this years critical hit 'The Hurt Locker.' Watching any of these films you'd have no idea they had a female behind the camera. And that's why I like her so much. She breaks the mold of what kind of pictures female directors 'should' make.

So I was looking forward to sitting down and enjoying 'Blue Steel.' Sadly, I really didn't. The problem isn't the acting or directing, it's the script. The first half of the film is tight and suspenseful, but the second half is full of cliches and plot holes.
The cinematography however, is pretty good, and sort of distracts you from the dull proceedings. It's reminiscent of a Ridley Scott film from the 80's.

All in all, 'Blue Steel' isn't terrible, it's just not very believable or exciting. There was a great movie that could have been made here, but because of the lousy script, we got a mediocre one.



Final Verdict: Skip It

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Across 110th Street (1971)


Directed by
: Barry Shear
Written by: Wally Ferris; Luther Davis
Starring: Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Franciosa, Richard Ward, Paul Benjamin

Disguised as cops, three black crooks steal a big amount of cash after killing five syndicate runners and two policemen. The NYPD and the Mafia react with immediate concern.

Tough police veteran Captain Frank Mattelli (Anthony Quinn) resents the intrusion of Lieutenant Pope (Yaphet Kotto), a black detective, in the case, while Mafia boss Don Gennaro (Frank Mascetta) sends his paranoid son-in-law, Nick D'Salvio (Anthony Franciosa), to reassert control over the Harlem branch and see that the money is recovered.

The black syndicate up in Harlem, headed by Doc Johnson (Richard Ward) and his assistant Shevvy (Gilbert Lewis), rejects D'Salvio, while promising only token help. So Nick and Shevvy rip through the city, doing whatever they can, and killing whoever they want, to get any info on who stole the money.

Anthony Quinn is pretty good as the aging detective who has long ago realized that all his efforts are not going to do more than take a small bite out of crime, but he is not above taking a bribe from a racketeer. His method of dealing with a reluctant witness is to hit hard first and ask questions later. The rigorously legal approach to police work, as exemplified by Yaphet Kotto, is not for Quinn. But these two opposites must work together to prevent the Mafia from committing any more sadistic executions.

This film always seems to get categorized as a blaxsploitation film. I disagree. In my opinion, it's more in the league of 'Serpico' or 'The Taking of Pelham One Two Three' and other gritty crime dramas from the early 70's. But I guess it could get called a blaxsploitation film because of the presence of some of that sub-genre's mainstays.



Final Verdict: See It

The Super (1991)


Directed by: Rod Daniel
Written by
: Sam Simon
Starring
: Joe Pesci, Vincent Gardenia, Madolyn Smith Osborne, Ruben Blades, Stacey Travis, Carlole Shelley, Beatrice Winde

I would have ideally liked for the first film on the blog to be one more noteworthy or interesting. But since 'The Super' was the first film I watched, here I am, writing about it.

This is a movie I'd seen bits and pieces of on TV growing up over the years, but had never seen from start to finish. When I saw it was airing I immediately scheduled it for recording. Well, I'm glad I saw it and finally got it out of my system.

It's not as terrible as I thought it would be, as there are some funny moments, but on a whole it's a misfire. Without Joe Pesci this would have been just painful to watch but because he has such a presence on screen, the movie is saved. Barely.

If you and your friends want to have a movie marathon with a theme, may I suggest one? How about a 'Late Eighties/Early Nineties Race Relation Movies Set In NYC' night? You can watch this movie, Do the Right Thing, Bonfire of the Vanities, and Jungle Fever. Hey, it's just a suggestion.

That's all I'm gonna write for this one. In the future as I watch better movies and get used to writing this blog, things will get better. I promise.



Final Verdict: Skip It