Robot Overlords (2014)

Summary
Alien robots come to Earth and assert their control over humanity. They claim that they only want to observe humanity. They enforce a strict no one allowed outside rule. They implant humans with a device that alerts sentries to anyone who goes outside and if they refuse to comply they are destroyed. They also employ humans to be their proctors. One of these men is Robin Smythe. He tries to get Kate Flynn to be his wife but she still mourns her husband whom Smythe says died. But her son Sean, doesn't believe it. He sends messages out asking anyone who knows anything about his father to tell him. One day he and three young people are fooling around when they discover that they turned off their implant. That's when they go outside and someone answers Sean's message and tells him where his father is.

Genre : Adventure/SF
Country : UK

Cast :
Gillian Anderson : Kate
Ben Kingsley : Robin Smythe
Callan McAuliffe : Sean Flynn

Director : Jon Wright

My opinion  

“Sean Flynn. You are a fascinating phenomenon.”

I understand that this film was made for a young audience. Actually I should form an opinion with this in mind. Does that mean that films for a young audience always look terrible ? And must I, as an adult, always judge these movies from that perspective? Why ? "The Goonies", "How to train a dragon", "ET" and (I'm ashamed to say it) "Frozen" are clearly creative products meant for toddlers among us. If I were to write an opinion about these films, this would be a remarkable positive sounding opinion. Youth films can also be entertaining, with a subtle story and surprisingly good looking special effects. But just as "Big Game" this film fails on several levels and even sounding names like Gillian Anderson and Ben Kingsley can't change that.

 
First, there are the pitiful-looking special effects. This is due to the limited,available budget I guess. It doesn't look like a new version of "Transformers". It rather resembles an old episode of the "Power Rangers". Admittedly, at times it wasn't so bad, but most of the time it seemed as if a bunch of "Dinky Toys"-like robots were pasted onto the screen. Not to mention the mastermind that was connected to the whole army of robots. It looked like "Frank" from the eponymous film. This really made no sense at all.

But especially the story is terribly childish, incoherent and predictable. The opening text is enormously brief. That made me already suspicious. We're told that three years ago a swarm of robots invaded earth and there was a war that lasted 11 days. Since then (already 1264 days), the whole world gets grounded and everyone gets an implant in the neck so the robots can intervene immediately if someone leaves his house. The choice you have then is to get the hell out of there, rush to your home and get inside as soon as possible. Or get hit by a whopper of a laser beam and vaporize. Because that is the only rule the robots have introduced when taking over earth : "No one can leave his home". This rule applies until the occupiers are ready with their (unknown and according to them innocent) research, after which they will disappear again. Then again, those robots aren't exactly that superior, because they still use individuals, who are known as "collaborators", who make sure everybody obeys and follows that rule. They can even intervene by briefly saying a command in an imperative way, followed by an authorization code. The in anger erupting robot immediately calms down and runs of to take care of other stuff.

Instantly I asked myself some pressing questions. How did those house arrested earthlings get food and beverages ? I suppose the weak ones systematically disappear because there's no medical care available? Electricity, water and other utilities will malfunction after a while ? How is it possible that the partying gang can still consume alcohol ? The way the implants can be switched off briefly, is so simplistic that it seems unlikely. And scientists and rational people are seemingly deported first, so that they couldn't come up with this solution. And apparently Mr. Smythe (Ben Kingsley) still doesn't know how the brainwashing machine works, otherwise it wouldn't knock him out all of a sudden. And finally I was wondering who the hell would read the message in those tennis balls, since no one can leave his home.

The recurrent fact that's always used in youth films is again applicable here. The youngsters become true heroes after straightening the crooked, threatening situation and thus save the world from further disaster. Once again the adults are just a gang of morons who aren't able to solve these problems in a rational and intellectual way. Sean Flynn also happens to have an incomprehensible force. Live with it and don't try to comprehend it. Also there's the strange fact that the superior robot (also known as the "Mediator") can keep an eye on a whole network of robots, but isn't able to control this individual. I thought this was a bit exaggerated. But it fits in this rather illogical story. Kingsley does not play a memorable role, but he can demonstrate his "wounded self-esteem expression" again. Anderson still looks sensual. There isn't much more to say about her. Sean (Callan McAuliffe) plays the hero. Enough said.  Nathan (James Tarpey) is the irritating member of the group. A windbag who turns out to be a wimp when the going gets tough. And Alex (Ella Hunt) represents the feminine gender and is of no further significance (besides a "Sleeping Beauty" moment at the end). The only amusing acting performance is that of Milo Parker as the little Connor. Brilliant how he can overpower a small group of adults just by using flares. And he's clever too ! I didn't know Stannum was Latin for tin.

Ultimately, this is a ignorable movie that really aims at a niche segment of the movie audience. It might be a bit too frightening for the really young kids. And a bit too childish for the older kids. And for us adults, it's completely bland and backward. But are you a "Dr. Who "fan and you're hooked on old-fashioned-looking lego-blocks-like robots, this adventure film for kids might be able to entertain you. However, this was not for me.

My rating 2/10
Links : IMDB

Run all Night (2015)

Summary 
Professional Brooklyn hitman Jimmy Conlon is more commonly known as "The gravedigger". Jimmy was a mob hit-man, who was best friends with his boss Shawn Maguire. But when Jimmy's son, Michael, is marked for death by the mob, Jimmy must go up against Sean to protect Michael at all costs. Together, he and Michael must avoid corrupt cops, contract killers and the mob to survive the night.

Genre : Action/Crime
Country : USA

Cast :
Liam Neeson : Jimmy Conlon
Ed Harris  : Shawn Maguire
Joel Kinnaman : Mike Conlon

Director : Jaume Collet-Serra

My opinion 

“Wherever we're going, when we cross that line, we're going together.
Me and you. “

I'm starting to think that Liam Neeson really has a drinking problem, because this is another movie with him as an ex-alcoholic or alcoholic. In "Non-stop" and "A Walk Among the Tombstones" he could shake off the addiction. In "Run all night" he's trying to suppress his sorrow by constantly consuming liquor. Neeson prefers the action genre nowadays apparently. After more serious work in the past such as "Schindler's List", "Nell", "K19", "Gangs of New York" and "Kinsey", he's focusing on action. Sadly enough he got stuck in the same mould. It's clear that the audience appreciates this kind of movies with Neeson, because last year the third part of "Taken" has been released . Neeson as the bitter, fierce and energetic ex-police or ex-gangster who has to compete against several vengeful opponents. It sounds and looks pretty clichéd but nevertheless there's a guarantee for pounding thrills and action-packed scenes.

Neeson plays the role of Jimmy Conlon, a hitman who has stowed away his gun and goes through life full of remorse for what he has done wrong in the past. In "Run all night" he's not only attacked by an entire pack of gangsters who are out for revenge cause he has killed the son of his former boss and good friend Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris) (in self-defense to save his son Mike from a certain death), almost the complete New York police force who for years (especially police officer Harding) are trying to arrest Jimmy and his associates (the lack of evidence prevents them from doing so) and the hitman Andrew Price (Common) who acts as energetic and determined as "The Professor" in "The Bourne Identity". But Jimmy also fights his own personal battle with his son Mike (Joel "Robocop" Kinnaman) who doesn't want him to be part of his life again, because of Jimmy's past. The end result is the two running and hiding all night. And that's where the film title comes from.

Despite being 63 years old, Neeson still convinces as true action hero. And apparently the director Jaume Collet-Serra is also convinced about that, because this is the third movie he makes with Neeson (after "Unknown" and "Non-stop"). The only difference with other iconic action heroes is that Neeson also has a lot of acting talent. The interactions between him and Harris are probably the most enjoyable in this movie. Two cynical veterans with their own tragedy and bitterness. The meeting between the two fighting cocks in a local pub was for me one of the highlights in this action packed movie. Joel Kinnaman fulfills his duty as the son who's full of anger and needs to use more acting techniques here than in "Robocop", where you could only see chin.

 

Furthermore you can expect what's always used in such typical films: tough fights, when the time comes there's a hail of bullets, explosions, burning rubber with matching material damage and this all infused with a bit of tragedy. Not very original in other words. The number of casualties increases slowly but surely until the end credits. There's obviously a lot of running around. And together with the sustained action and impressing camera technology, this ensures that the pace stays intense. The images with the camera cleaving through the air and zooming into the next location, was thrilling and extremely successful.
 

Altogether "Run all night" is a driven movie full of mindless action and visually intense, supported by wonderful acting of the three protagonists. Both the feud between Jimmy and Shawn, and the interactions between father and son make for some quality acting moments. But it is not really surprising.

My rating 6/10
Links : IMDB

The Well (2014)

Summary
At the edge of an expansive barren valley, all that remains of The Wallace Farm for Wayward Youth is a few hollowed-out husks of buildings. Seventeen year-old Kendal can barely recall when the Oregon valley was still lush. It's been a decade since the last rainfall, and society at large has dried up and blown away. Kendal and the few others that remain barely scrape by, while dreaming of escape. When a greedy water baron lays claim to what little of the precious resource remains underground, Kendal must decide whether to run and hide or bravely fight for the few cherished people and things she has left.

Genre : Action/Thriller
Country : USA

Cast :
Haley Lu Richardson : Kendal
Booboo Stewart : Dean
Max Charles : Alby

Director : Thomas S. Hammock
Alternative title : The Last Survivors

My opinion

“There was a time when a man owned the land, he controlled the water.
But things are different.
The water's mine, so the land is mine.”

The feeling I had after watching this post-apocalyptic film, was an irresistible urge to drink. Just as in "Mad Max" there's a scorching drought. Earthly life is reduced to a struggle for survival in a world that hasn't seen a drop of rain in more than 10 years and the survivors search daily for some precious water. Similarly, the courageous and very young Kendal (Haley Lu Richardson) who goes on patrol every day to get a few sips of water for herself and a few survivors in the area. She's also looking for a particular component that's required to make a defect airplane so she and the sick Dean (Booboo Stewart) can escape from the dead and dry Oregon valley.

 

First the positive comments about this movie. The dreary, parched landscape is truly brilliant portrayed. The decaying houses buried by sand and the endless sweltering desert ensure, as I mentioned earlier, that you soon need something to quench your thirst. To create this miserable, desolate world, the Mojave Desert was used. The isolation of the scattered remaining inhabitants, is filmed in an adequate way. More than once the images made me think of an old Western movie. Also the performances were, especially that of the youthful Richardson, admirable. Quite an achievement at that age. She plays the role as protector and guardian of the spring with skill. The role of Booboo is limited, partly due to his illness, which means that his action space is confined to the attic. And the most adorable part is played by Max Charles as Alby, a brave little boy who sometimes turns out to be more mature than we thought in the first place. And third, despite the lack of action, the tension is tangibly present.

Unfortunately, there were also some negative points. First, the bad guys are not very original. Obviously, there's again the religious whining. And when push comes to shove, they turn out not to be that clever when it's about defending themselves. After a while it even started to be a bit monotonous. Over and over again the back and forth running in between the various buildings and abandoned vehicles, really started to irritate at a given time. And seeing this fragile girl using a samurai sword as if she has done this already for years, was also hard to believe.

But still it managed to fascinate me and it all looked intriguing enough, despite the limited budget. The desperate situation in which the individuals found themselves and the insane plan of Carson to acquire dominion over all the available water, so his daughter Brooke would become heiress of an empire, created a nerve-wracking cat-and-mouse game. "The Well" is a typical low-budget film that nevertheless managed to surpass other similar films, just by the appropriate use of limited resources, its authenticity and some decent acting.

My rating 6/10
Links : IMDB

Reversal (2015)

Summary
A young girl, chained in the basement of a sexual predator, escapes and turns the tables on her captor.

Genre : Horror/Thriller
Country : USA


Cast :
Richard Tyson : Phil
Tina Ivlev : Eve
Amy Okuda : Girl #1

Director : José Manuel Cravioto

My opinion 

“Escape is just the beginning”

I thought "Reversal" was rather disappointing. This has absolutely nothing to do with horror as a film genre. That it represents the horror of networks where mainly young girls are being abducted and afterwards being abused in an inhuman way, is perfectly clear. The thought that this also occurs in reality, is a repulsive fact which I experience as being horror. "Reversal" (alternative title "Bound to Vengeance") distinguishes itself from other rape / revenge films by omitting  the rape part completely. The insinuations are present, but are not explicitly shown. At the beginning you are immediately in the middle of a kind of revenge movie mixed with a heroic rescue mission. But otherwise it's just a soulless story solely made to shock. Showing the atrocities inflicted by individuals to others, merely serves as a way to test our tolerance.

 

The moment a brick hits the face of the sadistic serial rapist Phil (Richard Tyson also known as the drug dealer Cullen Crisp from "Kindergarten Cop"), it means the redemptive end of months (or years) of imprisonment for Eve (Tina Ivlev). An average person would quickly flee and call 911. Except Eve. After finding some polaroids (Guess it's the 80's) of other victims, she makes an agreement with the psychopath. He'll show Eve the other locations where the other girls are located. In exchange Eve will drop him off at a hospital, to take care of his battered, bloody face.

 
Tina Ivlev made an impression on me. An acting performance that goes beyond sheer fear and revenge. In a convincing, realistic way she shows how she must choose between self-preservation and self-sacrifice. The transition from victim to executioner occurs without realizing it, and the roles are reversed within the shortest time. Phil is (briefly) reduced to a helpless, pleading heap of misery. Even Richard Tyson delivers a brilliant performance as the maniac doing his weekly round along dilapidated, filthy barely livable shacks where several victims are locked up in chains. But his resilience is superhuman. The manipulative Phil, however, isn't easily beaten up to a jelly and tries to confuse Eve over and over again and tries to trick her into feelings of guilt. He's in any case a creepy guy and you're all the time wondering whether he's the person in charge of the whole operation or as he claimed at the beginning just a messenger boy.

 
I'm not really a fan of exploitation films and I don't necessarily need to see movies as "I spit on your grave". "Reversal" remains a terrible movie to watch, full of disturbing and disgusting images. Despite everything isn't brought explicitly into the picture, one can imagine the miserable conditions and the cruel treatment the victims endured. Unfortunately, this film offers no more than a vague idea about yet another immense organization larger than Eve can apprehend and again the assertion follows that she isn't aware of what she's getting into. Furthermore, it's the umpteenth film with a teenage girl soaked in blood and running around in her underwear.

The entire film is a succession of perverse disclosures located at different addresses. It looks like a kind of tourist tour with human madness as a central theme, which ultimately leads to the (really predictable) denouement. Although the story isn't much of a deal and unbelievable at times, somehow it's ominous enough to hold your attention. Unfortunately, the flashbacks about better times and the neon-colored images are tiring after a while, and you long for the showdown to see how it actually runs off for Eve. A film that is recommended only for the real fans of this subgenre.

My rating 4/10
Links : IMDB

The Longest week (2014)

Summary
Affluent and aimless, Conrad Valmont lives a life of leisure in his parent's prestigious Manhattan Hotel. In the span of one week, he finds himself evicted, disinherited, and... in love.

Genre : Comedy/Drama
Country : USA

Cast :
Olivia Wilde : Beatrice Fairbanks
Jason Bateman : Conrad Valmont
Billy Crudup : Dylan Tate

Director : Peter Glanz

My opinion 

"Sometimes you're your own worst enemy.”

For Conrad this was apparently the longest and most painful week. For me this was the longest and most painful movie experience. Anyway I have a strong dislike for a voice-over that begins with "This is ..." followed by the name of the main character. This is usually already a bad omen. You can almost compare it with the voiceover that starts with "My name is ..." followed by the name of the main character (with a few exceptions such as "Forrest Gump"). But lets return to "The Longest Week". They've taken their time to release this romantic comedy (although I haven't discovered much humor). Apparently it was already completed in 2012. Was it doubt that made them forget about it ? Or were the reactions of the test audiences so disastrous? However, if you want to see how a spoiled rich son in his thirties is thrown out of his comfort zone without money or continuous attention for his egocentric personality, after that relying on a friend to get through this horrible time and falling in love with a handsome model, then you should definitely take a look. Don't forget to lay down a cozy cushion near you, because this is just about the slowest film I've ever seen with content so meaningless, that I hand over an award to myself for unparalleled endurance.

Visually it all was quite beautiful to watch. Stylized, detailed and artistically (the series of images, the jazzy music, the clothing and furniture). It also had a little tendency to be pretentious. Well that suits the main character Conrad : a pretentious snob who's being pampered all his life by the staff of The Valmont Hotel. A narcissist who has never proven anything and will never have the need to prove himself. Someone who was born so privileged that he can't imagine what it's like to care for himself in real life without everything being handed on a silver platter. Maybe that's why I already hated this pretentious layabout and would-be author after 10 minutes. The fact that his future novel (in the line of Fitzgerald) wasn't yet completed, I attribute solely to his lifestyle. That some life lessons are the cause of an acceleration in his writing process, was pure fiction, in my opinion.

Read other reviews and the name Woody Allen comes up often. Despite the reputation and the huge share of followers this filmmaker has, I've never been a fan of his creations. They each seem like complex, highly intellectual comedies. I always had the impression that the humor of Woody Allen's films was hidden in the syntactic errors that the main players made cunningly, because I never really thought it was funny. I know that those who link this movie with Woody Allen didn't think of this fact particularly, but for me this is the most plausible link, because real humor I haven't found in "The Longest Week" either. There was one particular moment for me that seemed comical. When Jenny Slate (I really have to watch "Obvious Child") gives her opinion about a play they've attended, and by that lays her finger on the sensitive points.

I understand the satirical meaning of this film and the exaggeration of Conrad's pretension, but couldn't honestly empathize with the complete story (in analogy with Slate). It's like the descriptions used for Dylan Tate, Conrad's best friend : Dylan is "an anti-social socialist", "a closet conversationalist" and "a clinical neurotic". A series of expensive, intellectual words that sound complicated, but ultimately mean nothing. Similarly, the snobbish conversations with much ado. I was always wondering which individuals would converse in such a way with each other and at the same time know what it's about. Even the notorious love triangle they came up with, felt artificial. As artificial as the eyelashes of Beatrice (Olivia Wilde). They reminded me of the plastic doll my sisters played with 40 years ago. It had the same flashing eyes with lashes so big that you could protect yourself against the burning sun in summer. Pretentious, not?

My rating 2/10
Links : IMDB

Lockout (2012)

Summary
In 2079, in Washington, the ex-CIA Operative Snow is brutally interrogated, accused of treason against the United States. The chief of the secret service Scott Langral believes that he shot the agent Frank in a hotel room. Meanwhile, the idealistic daughter of the president of the USA, Emilie Warnock, is visiting MS One, a maximum security prison in outer space expecting to find evidences that the prisoners are actually guinea pigs of a huge corporation. When one of her bodyguards loses a hidden pistol to the dangerous prisoner Hydell, he subdues the staff in the central control room and releases the prisoners, including his brother Alex who becomes the leader of the riot. Now the veteran agent Harry Shaw offers freedom to Snow if he succeeds in rescuing the president's daughter. But the idealistic Emilie does not want to leave MS-One without the hostages.

Genre : Action/SF
Country : France

Cast :
Guy Pearce : Snow
Maggie Grace : Emilie Warnock
Peter Stormare : Scott Langral

Director : James Mather, Stephen Leger

My opinion  

“Ow! (INJECTS)
That'll freeze the nerves in this spot for 24 hours.
You want some on your mouth? “

Don't expect a cinematic masterpiece when watching this movie, but expect it to be an entertaining empty-headed action sci-fi with Guy Pearce as a purebred John McClane, in an ultra-modern prison in space, who must save the president's daughter. A clichéd kind of Musketeers story with the slogan "One for all, all for one" replaced by "One against all". A well-known and popular story with the hero fighting against a whole horde of scum, just about 500 murderers and rapists who awoke from an artificial nap, and helping a comely damsel in distress. You can safely call it "Die Hard In Space".

 
The story itself isn't really special and feels rather incoherent. Don't be discouraged by the terrible chase scene at the beginning of the film. That looked terribly outdated and it seemed like it came straight out some kind of C64 game. Some parts are fairly unlikely (including the wind tunnel and the disguise trick of presidential daughter which gave me a "Yeah sure" feeling) and the predictability level is immense high. But besides that, the action-part can be considered very satisfactory and particularly the characters are interesting enough to turn it into an entertaining movie to fill up the evening.

 
Guy "The Rover" Pearce enjoys himself here as the quite burly muscular bundle "Snow", who behaves in a rather fatalistic way and pulls every now and then a dry one-liner or sarcastic remark out of his hat, what provides for some chuckle moments. Once again the comparison with the young Bruce Willis is made quickly. The conversations between him and Maggie Grace (as Emilie Warnock) are highly entertaining at times. But especially the two criminal brothers Alex (Vincent Regan) and Hydell (Joseph Gilgun) steal the show (a kind of "Jekyll and Hyde" interpretation). Two extremely dangerous criminals with Alex as a born leader. But especially Gilgun is brilliant at times as the total crazy Hydell with a heavy English accent. He looks quite terrifying and spoils the plans of his brother over and over again (a stupid decision which Alex makes again and again).

Besides the imaginative design of a space prison where dangerous criminals are piled up (literally) to serve their sentence while being in a coma, a whole bunch of hilarious one liners and action scenes filled with crazy prisoners, in the end this is just a third-rate simple action movie with a linear storyline. A film that fits in our consumer society. Consume, digest and forget. My favorite part is the beginning of the film where a punch and a crooked cigarette are the attributes. Once again it immediately reminded me of a similar scene from "The Last Boy Scout". I assume that Bruce has done it all before.

My rating 5/10
Links : IMDB

 

Rob the Mob (2014)

Summary 
A Queens couple who specialize in robbing mafia social clubs stumble upon a score bigger than they could ever imagine, becoming targets of both the mob and the FBI in the process.

Genre : Crime/Drama
Country : USA

Cast :
Michael Pitt : Tommy
Nina Arianda : Rosie
Andy Garcia : Big Al

Director : Raymond De Felitta

My opinion  

“Kid, you know where the fuck you are?
Yeah, I'm at 140 Union Avenue.
I got the address right, right?
Yeah, that's it. That's the address.”

What a terrific movie. A film I've watched in amazement and where I was wondering all the time how for God's sake it could be possible that this has occurred in reality in New York in the 90s. Don't expect to see a gangster epos or something as similar as "The Godfather", simply because it's about the mafia. It's rather amusing at times, it's honest and it's, strange but true, extremely funny in a goofy way. I laughed out loud several times about the madcap situations Tommy and Rosie found themselves in (the first hold-up cracked me up).

This sympathetic, but not so clever and very naive, couple ensured that the Italian mafia didn't know what to do when someone suddenly started holding up clubs where members of the mafia gathered. First you see Tommy and Rosie as real crack addicts, committing a robbery at a florist. After their imprisonment (and apparently sobered) they decided to stay on the straight path and started to work for a collection agency that's run by someone who wasn't afraid to do illegal stuff himself in the past and who practised the motto that everyone deserves a second chance in life. Until Tommy and Rosie realize that they are underpaid and supporting themselves will become very difficult. That's when Tommy comes up with the insane idea to rob the mafia. During the trial of mobster John Gotti, he diligently wrote down addresses of those famous clubs. And one additional benefit is that weapons are out of the question there ("Guns and wiseguys is a bad mix"). The idea to rob them is indeed brilliant because nobody gives a damn about that. Not the public opinion and certainly not the authorities. And the last thing the mafia will do is to contact the police to file a complaint against some unknown persons.
 

"Rob the Mob" is not a mafia movie par excellence with liquidations and bloody reprisals, opponents that are buried in concrete somewhere or an omertà being broken. Ultimately, the role of the mafia in this film is reduced to that of a bunch of retired veterans, only left with their reputation and subsequently two young people make them look foolish. The whole focus is on this touchingly couple in love. The way Michael Pitt and Nina Arianda give shape to these characters, is simply magnificent. Tommy is the gullibility itself and you can see him evolve from clumsy to recklessly. His motivation for these actions is fueled by what this intimidating gang did wrong to his father in the past (which is seen frequently during flashbacks). Rosie is a lovely girl that follows Tommy without hesitation in this reckless adventure. She looks so disarmingly innocent with an engaging big laugh that camouflages her intellectual deficiencies. Arianda's acting is fascinating. The two main characters complement each other perfectly and act very natural. Pitt apparently has a sense for quality films. I saw him shine in the movie "I Origins", which I thought was also an impressive film.

Besides the two main characters, a series of famous film stars appear in it, giving it the right atmosphere. There's Andy Garcia (Terry Benedict in Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen) as the illustrious godfather "Big Al" from the Vazallo family. Complete with an impressive gray beard which makes him look more like a grandfather enjoying his old age. Ray "Everybody loves Raymond" Romano shows up as the columnist who plunges into the improbable story of "Bonnie and Clyde" after Rosie called him, to his surprise, to point out there's a flaw in his previous article. Griffin Dune plays the amusing role of Dave Lovell, the enthusiastic owner of the collection agency (delightful part). And the mafia members all played in some mafia-related film in the past. Michael "The Sopranos" Rispoli, Yul "American Gangster" Vazquez, Burt "Once upon a time in America" ​​Young (a 75-year-old bloke that can still throw in a solid punch), Joseph "The Sopranos" Gannascoli, John "Mob Queen" Tormey, Garry "The Sopranos" Pastore, Santo "The Sopranos" Fazio, Vincent "The Family" Riviezzo. They all ensured that the authentic feeling of an Italian mafia-family is convincing. I only missed a collective feast while all eating a homemade spaghetti with meatballs in tomato sauce made by an authentic Italian mama.

This surely is a must-see movie if you like a casual and clownish film. After "The Godfather" episodes there still have been successful and less successful attempts to portray organized crime. The best description I read found on the website "The Playlist": "De Felitta takes a true story that occurred in the early '90s, adds two energized leads, a pinch of bearded Andy Garcia and a screenplay that goes down like cold ice-tea on a hot summer day to cook up a nice little homage to the good ol' days.". But for those who know the real story of Thomas and Rosemarie Uva, it certainly won't be a surprising ending.

My rating 7/10
Links : IMDB