I love this movie
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mallchick789 — 19 years ago(August 30, 2006 07:12 AM)
Yes I agree with you.. dramas always make me cry somewhat, but the fact that this one had James Franco in it and was very well acted out.. lol I kind of hated DeNiro's character for leaving Joey and then sending his grandson off, but then at the very end where he gives Joey that speech, that was very touching. I agree with what was posted on the review that if you're expecting to be blown away by action or how many people get killed, you'll be disappointed.. hence the crime/ drama.
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oliver-brett — 17 years ago(February 12, 2009 03:27 AM)
I saw this for the first time on a BBC late night showing and thought it was really good. It has lots of traces of black comedy running through what is essentially a fairly miserable tail with a thankfully happy ending. Is it filmed in Coney Island or somewhere?
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allen_girls_3 — 19 years ago(October 12, 2006 01:28 PM)
"I've seen this movie several times on cable now and each time I continue watching it. It's got a great mood and DeNiro gives a fantastic, understated performance."
I agree with you - I've watched it many times as well, and I think it's an excellent story. De Niro is great, as usual, but I think every one of the cast did an incredible job.
I think, too, that it's a very believable story in the way that LaMarca started off by avoiding all of his family issues, and then the way he handles them when he is forced to deal with them. The issues regarding son, ex-wife, and girlfriend - I think we've all had those issues - we can relate to the characters. -
poczwaj — 19 years ago(November 11, 2006 01:50 AM)
My sister bought the DVD for me, to add to my "De Niro" collection and I've just watched it. I loved it and was totally absorbed. Great drama - and very good acting by the cast - De Niro certainly didn't disappoint - I liked his acting in this movie a lot.
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mathmaniac — 17 years ago(December 05, 2008 07:27 PM)
I liked this movie. It kept my interest, got in the way of my doing some other work because I couldn't take my eyes away from the screen (I have it on video) and now that I know how it ends, I'll probably wait 3 years to watch it again.
The weakest part of the movie was the script, in my opinion. It would have been a powerful story without all the backstory of De Niro's father being executed and the domestic violence with his wife.
De Niro could have just said that his father left him when he was a young kid, too. There didn't have to be a story that somehow heightened that drama or made it more meaningful. There was plenty of meaning there already.
Then, to remind the audience of all the backstory, the scriptwriter made De Niro repeat it all to the Frances McDormand character. She got stuck in the situation of being someone who gets a script dumped on her lap and has to read it - and react to it - and what can you do? It's a bit much. Especially for somoene you just sleep with, as De Niro did.
You could have half of the plot points stripped out of the story and it would have been a better script. De Niro did wonders with what he was given.
You can tell a good movie by the way certain things are handled: I found myself thinking, 'Now, what could he possibly say?' or 'How can he possibly walk out of there?' With a bad movie, you know exactly what they are going to say and how they are going to walk out of there. -
rockycairns — 19 years ago(February 17, 2007 07:25 AM)
i dont think it was poorly directed Michael Caton-Jones is a very good director he gave De Niro one of his best performances in 1993 as abusive stepfather Dwight in This Boy's Life and he did Rob Roy both of them films were very well directed as was this film
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yanglan — 18 years ago(July 07, 2007 09:46 AM)
I think the movie is ok. What really stands out is the acting. I rent the DVD first then ended up buying it. I like James Franco. I think this is one of his best performances. Worth keeping the DVD. De Niro is good of course.
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JohnnyBoy1020 — 18 years ago(July 19, 2007 08:06 PM)
For those of you criticizing the director, sure there wasn't a whole lot of technical flair and fancy camera tricks, but that would have detracted from the main draw: the acting. This is the best character study I have seen in a long time. Easily DeNiro's best performance in the past decade. Franco, Forsythe and Duzku have never been better. McDormand was excellent too, her best role since Fargo. The only thing I didn't really dig was the ending. With such a greater character study it would have been nice if there was a little bit more closure. So many loose ends were left untied.
Another great drug movie that came out around the same time is The Salton Sea. I think that movie is more suitable for the people who were put off by the subtlety and low-keyness of this movie. But both are great and I couldn't reccomend them more. I saw both these movies for the first time on network TV, but hopefully I will be able to add them to my DVD collection soon so I can enjoy them uncensored and without commercial breaks.
"I take my coffee like my women: strong, black and proud." -
WarpedRecord — 17 years ago(February 24, 2009 10:55 AM)
You summed up this film perfectly. I put off watching this for years, but now that I've gotten around to it, I wondered why. De Niro was remarkable here, as was McDormand. Of course, that's not saying much because they always give superb performances. But they complement each other really well here and add to the feeling of realism.
I fully agree that the director did a very good job. The scene where De Niro walks into the wake for his partner was handled subtly enough that we could really feel the tension. If this were directed by a Tarantino or a Rodriguez, this film would have been totally over the top. Instead, it's an excellent character study, not an action picture.
"Salton Sea" is excellent as well a thoughtful movie about the drug trade. -
jeanniemotherof3 — 14 years ago(May 16, 2011 04:16 PM)
Watch him in Heat, Casino, Taxi Driver, I even liked him in The score, and Stone. He's amazing in Awakenings, I hear he is really good in The Fan. Of course Goodfellas, He is really incredible no matter what. My favorite is Heat when he "BECOMES" his character Neil MCcualley, there is no acting involved, and the movie is known as a Michael Mann masterpiece, check it out if you can, let me know what you think.
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bernhard293 — 14 years ago(May 17, 2011 01:57 AM)
Heat is a great movie! Yesterday I watched "Casino" and somehow I didnt like the movie, there is background music in most scenes which I find a bit annoying and many scenes are commented by the main characters, so there is always some chatting and explaining. I liked his pastel colored suits though very much
