This movie starts off with some funky hand held visuals and I was like "oh Ed Burns has gotten Scorsese". And Burns later wrote that he wished he'd shot the whole film in that style - and he was right.
It is a change of pace for him, being about gangsters, specifically the Irish Mob - this is State of Grace territory. Elijah Wood shoots some gangsters after his brother Burns, then disappears. Three years later it turns out Wood might be coming home, with to get his girl (Rosario Dawson).
That's strong conflict. This would make a decent stage play, if rewritten.
As a film it suffers from Burns not being up to the strength of his idea. There's a lot of repetition - did you see him, yeah I saw him - as well as endless use of characters saying "f*ck". Burns has dishevelled hair in this one - he disliked his performance, but didn't not super different from his other performances.
Elijah Wood's peppy faced youngster has an interesting contrast with Burns - but the piece might've been more effective with someone tougher, more attractive to Dawson. I didn't buy them being married and having a kid let alone Wood pining for her for so long. It's not the fault of the actors they just seemed too young - it would've been better had they seemed older.
Also they should've have Dawson and Burns be in love all the way through the film. They throw it in at the end.
Malachy McCourt is excellent as an old gangster. Oliver Platt is unusually cast as a hard man but he's always good and he registers. The music theme got wearying.
This movie had a lot of potential. I think Burns needed a co writer or something.
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