Runtime: 115 minutes
Directed by: The Coen Brothers
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, Jon Polito, John Turturro, Marcia Gay Harden
From: 20th Century Fox
Or: When you finally see a movie because at a Longhorn Steakhouse you encounter the Welsh version of Albert Finney. What a bizarre night I had when I had dinner at Longhorn for the first time in several years, but I’ll explain that at the end. Such an odd event as seeing someone who looked like Finney circa his role in Traffic-and you overhear that his accent was Welsh, which was helpful as I had no idea where from the UK Not Albert Finney was from-was enough to finally make me see a movie I’ve thought of checking out for years now. After the fact, the realization hit that I was a real twist for not giving this a shot MUCH sooner.
It all starts with a fiery Jon Polito pissed off that there’s issues with fixed boxing fights, and he wants the head of the Jewish person he feels responsible, but boss Finney (as Leo) won’t give him up. A big reason is that Ol’ Albert is dating that guy’s sister, played by Marcia Gay Harden. That causes a LOT of trouble, especially for Leo’s right-hand man Gabriel Byrne. Byrne tries to play both sides against each other so you aren’t sure what in the heck he’s doing but it’s a wild ride the entire time.
The film is great as you see all those colorful characters, fascinating situations, Tommy Gun action, fistfights, tough guy characters, Machiavellian motivations that don’t always succeed from multiple characters, darkly humorous moments which did make me laugh-ironic as when the Coen Brothers go full comedy it doesn’t work for me-and much more I dare not spoil, including small appearances from familiar faces.
There are many allusions to both film noir and gangster movies from the past. Even if you don’t recognize those (and I didn’t spot all of them myself) it was still a movie I loved due to the concoction that was created for this tasty, tasty stew where a lot of bad things happen during Prohibition in an unnamed American city. The negative reviews I’ve seen from even some of my mutuals are understandable; however, IMO it’s a dark tale which thankfully isn’t a miserable slog due to the Gordian knot that the plot is which does become untangled and the laughs that are always present. The talent involved behind and in front of the camera are also huge assets, with Byrne and Harden the standouts-they get the high hats-due to how captivating they were & how unsure the viewer was of their motivations. It’s one I definitely recommend if you tend to enjoy the neo noirs.
As for the evening I had at the Longhorn Steakhouse… besides Welsh Albert Finney, I shared brief comments w/ a nice mother/daughter combo and in the minutes before I left, I experienced a character you’d expect to see in a Coen Brothers film. It was a lady with her adult son who was highly religious. Out of nowhere she was talking about God to a random woman sitting right by me. If it wasn’t peculiar enough that she mentioned how she was against “witchcraft” and “crystals”, she then wanted to give a prayer to this lady.
That was fine with me-except that this prayer lasted at least 5 minutes, was partially in Spanish (at least I think it was—I hope she wasn’t speaking in tongues!) and was so bizarre & nonsensical, it’s a regret I did not surreptitiously record any of it! The entire scenario was as uncomfortable as a scene from a Safdie Brothers movie and while I think the recipient of that promo was moved by the whole comic scenario, it still was going on when I had to leave—WTF is my whole reaction to a woman who thank goodness never started talking to me!
No comments:
Post a Comment