Day 256 - 9/13/09 - Movie #256
BEFORE: Moving north, we pass through Greenwich Village - this is one of Michele's favorite movies, but I've never seen it. For the sake of being a completist, I included the movies in her collection on my list - man, I'm not looking forward to a week of Barbra Streisand movies sometime next year...
THE PLOT: Charlie and his troublesome cousin Paulie decide to steal $150000 in order to back a "sure thing" race horse that Paulie has inside information on...
AFTER: It's an OK "caper" movie, but I feel like I've seen better - even better caper movies where the thieves are total screw-ups. So I think it makes a better character study than anything else.
I felt that Eric Roberts was overacting for most of the picture - the accent was overdone, and all his expressions were over-the-top. Mickey Rourke was more subdued, though he was violent and explosive when necessary, I think he came across as a much better actor. Daryl Hannah was pretty bland - she was easily upstaged. Appearances from "Hey, it's THAT guy" actors Burt Young ("Rocky"), Jack Kehoe ("The Sting", "Serpico") and M. Emmet Walsh ("Raising Arizona", "Blade Runner", "Fletch" and too many others to list...)
RATING: 5 out of 10 betting slips
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Now wait a second. I never said it was one of my favorite movies. I said that I loved the movie, and not because it was such a great example of storytelling or brilliant acting. It's a New York film with two guys who are genuine New York characters. There's always a guy who is looking to get rich quick without working for it and there's always another guy who thinks he is just a tiny bit smarter than the first guy. The dialogue between them is authentic down to the accent and while it may be overacted, there are people like that who exist in the city. I never said the acting was stellar except for Geraldine Page who was nominated for an Oscar for her role by the way.
ReplyDeleteAnd I never touted any Barbra Streisand movie to be great either, except maybe Prince of Tides, but she had nothing to do with it being great.
I've seen this film half a dozen times as a kid, but I never really judged it, so I guess I should rewatch it, though I recall most of the film, especially "They Took my THUMB, Charlie!" Never really connected that it was set in New York as a kid.
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