Although this film is not of The Godfather (1972) quality, it still held up as an overall entertaining look at the mafia and the ins and outs of “the business”. It seemed to be aimed at a younger target audience upon its release. It is a guilty pleasure for some people to watch, as many seem to be fascinated by the inner workings of the crime scene and especially period pieces.
I disagree with one critic’s opinion of Christian Slater playing Charlie ‘Lucky’ Luciano, I actually think he pulls the part off with flying colors. He is accompanied by Patrick Dempsey who plays Meyer Lansky, Richard Grieco who plays Bugsy Siegel, and Costas Mandylor who plays Frank Costello. Actually, all of these guys did well with their parts and seemed to fit these larger than life characters.
The film was directed by Michael Karbelnikoff who has a limited film resume as his last film was F.T.W. (1994) which starred Mickey Rourke, Lori Singer, Aaron Neville and Peter Berg. Michael Mahern originated the story for Mobsters with Nicholas Kazan and himself writing the screenplay together.
The storyline goes like this, these small time criminals rally together to become a major criminal element in the scene. They enjoy the thrills and the kills and do whatever it takes to reach the top. Along the way, they pit one side against the other crime bosses to confuse them and tear one another down.
Before all of this happens, you get a brief sense of history for Charlie ‘Lucky’ Luciano and what drove him to turning into a criminal, and his struggles as a young man. You also see him bond with the other members of the gang. There is some kind of code of conduct which these mafia guys seem to follow as flawed as it is.
There are more appearances in this and you might recognize the late Anthony Quinn who plays Don Giuseppe ‘Joe the Boss’ Masseria. Micheal Gambon plays Don Salvatore Faranzano, F. Murray Abraham plays Arnold Rothstein, Seymour Cassel plays Father Bonotto, Nicholas Sadler plays Mad Dog Coll, Lara Flynn Boyle plays Mara Motes, Titus Welliver plays Al Capone, Russ Fega plays Nathan Citron and the late Joe Viterelli plays Joe Profaci.
For those who enjoy crime films, you will probably like this one. It has some violent moments wrapped inside of it, but it delivers a knockout punch with some storylines which were intriguing enough to keep you interested.
This film is not for the faint of heart, but I recommend it to those who can stomach such violent actions. What else was interesting was the presentation of the roaring 1920-1930′s life demonstrating the cars, the clothes, the dancers, the music and the women. This helped add another dimension to the film and overall made it a better film to see. Catch this chaos sometime if you are in the mood for some excitement.
Here is a neat movie which deals about perception. It shows how differently people are treated. I think most people would agree with this being a wonderful heartfelt film. A lot of the characters in this are identifiable to many and there easy to follow along with as the story unfolds. A film like this also appeals to many different age ranges. It was directed by the Farrelly brothers (Bobby and Peter). They also collaborated for the screenplay along with Sean Moynihan.
Jack Black stars as Hal who only sees women for their physical appearance only and not their personality so much. Things change for him as he meets up with Rosemary played by Gwyneth Paltrow. She is an overweight woman. Gwyneth wore a “fat suit” as she filmed this and many people didn’t even recognize her. Jason Alexander plays Mauricio who has his own self obsession and views about women as well. As you watch this film you will discover a secret about him. The late Joe Viterelli plays Steve Shanahan Rosemary’s father. He was often cast in mobster type roles or police men.
Hal discovers much more about life and relationships especially after being hypnotized by self help guru Tony Robbins played by Anthony Robbins. He in real life gives speeches and seminars to people in need of help and motivation in their lives, perhaps you have seen him on television at some point.
There are more interesting characters in this such as Walt played by Rene Kirby who in real life suffers from spina bifida which is a birth defect where the backbone and spinal canal don’t close before birth. He in real life leads a productive life despite his unfortunate circumstances and he has appeared in a few other film productions. Bruce McGill appears in this as Reverend Larson he has a pretty lengthy resume of film and television roles. Susan Ward plays Hal’s neighbor and once romantic interest named Jill. Zen Gesner plays Ralph, Brooke Burns is Katrina, Rob Moran is Second Tiffany, Joshua ‘Li’iBoy’ Shintani is Li’iBoy, Kyle Gass is Artie, Laura Kightlinger is Jen, and Nan Martin is Nurse Tanya Peeler.
The film was nominated for the Teen Choice Awards for Choice Actor, Choice Actress, and Choice Movie. Overall, I think you will surely enjoy this one; there are some touching moments in it. And it deals with things they linger in our society among one another. I highly recommend seeing this one, it no doubt will become a classic over time.
