Brooklyn Rules
by Michael Corrente
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DVD details
Actor: Alec Baldwin, Freddie Prinze Jr., Jerry Ferrara, Mena Suvari, Scott CaanDirector: Michael Corrente
Brand: WEA HOME VIDEO
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, Digital Sound, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-09-18
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Model: 2-600104
Studio: City Lights Home Video
Product features:
- TESTED
DVD Reviews of Brooklyn Rules
DVD Review: A Decent, Casual Mob Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
When you look at the cast of this film, it's hard to believe how little media exposure it received. I hadn't heard of it until I saw it on the Vine newsletter, and I'm a fan of Prinze Jr. and Alec Baldwin's so I thought I would give it a go. The additional cast of Jay Ferrara and Scott Caan would only make this film more enjoyable and enthralling.
The story is set around 3 very close friends. Bobby (The Sweetheart), Carmine (The Vain One) and Michael (The Smart One). One day after skipping church as kids, they discover the body of a man who has been executed in a mob hit. They look around the scene, Carmine kept a lighter and a pack of cigarettes he found, Michael kept the gun he found and Bobby kept a puppy he found. These objects were the representative objects of what these children are to be like in their adult lives.
Fast forward to the mid 80s and the boys have all grown up. Michael (Prinze Jr.) is in college and looking to become a lawyer, Bobby (Jay Ferrara) is looking to marry his girlfriend of two years, and just keeping out of trouble and Carmine (Scott Caan) has become involved in the mob. This is where the boys start to clash on many things, whilst still remaining very close to each other. Michael wants to improve his life by going to college whilst Carmine seems to like the tough guy attitude that comes with being involved with the mob and is staying put. Bobby, well Bobby is just the joke of the group. Still the sweet guy who has good intentions all round. These changes in personality lead to a lot of trouble brewing around the trio, which eventually draws them all into it. This is mainly focused around Carmines massive admiration for mob king Caesar (Alec Baldwin) and a little scuffle they get in at a restaurant one night.
There was quite a bit wrong with this film, but it was all cancelled out by the utterly fantastic acting by the majority involved. Let's get the bad things out of the way first so we can discuss the greatness of the acting front men. Seeing as this was set in the mid 1980s, it was a wholly unconvincing setting as apart from the odd 80s car and the odd person in stereotypical 80s gear, it just didn't feel like the 80s. Also the relationship between Michael and his love interest, Ellen (Mena Suvari) was the most unconvincing thing I've ever seen on screen, and I've seen Godzilla. In fact the chemistry between the two was so non-existent, I found myself becoming exhausted by the two being on screen.
Now the acting is something truly superb and really made this movie worthy of my time and effort. The accents weren't brilliant and at times I felt like they were a bit too exaggerated, I know it's set in Brooklyn and the characters are Italian American but I just found myself not fully buying into the accents. The film felt like a compilation of all the decent emotional bits from my favourite mob movies; but the way it was done is by no means a bad thing. The intimidating and awesome rare appearances by Alec Baldwins character just reminded me why I was still watching this film. It's a mob movie without the over the top offensive language or the extreme violence. It still depicts that but in a more casual way without it being labelled as self censorship.
It's overall a good and enjoyable film, the friendship of the three is actually quite loveable and you can relate to the friendship they have by friendships you have in the way you would lovingly mock your best friend or become over protective of them if they're attacked by an outsider. The best parts of the movie are Prinze Jr. And Baldwin, without them, I doubt this film would be just as good.
Description of Brooklyn Rules
A gripping tale of three life-long friends struggling with relationships, responsibility and loyalty on the mean streets of 1980 s-era Brooklyn, NY. When the violent influence of the mafia becomes a factor in their friendship, lives will be threatened as the fond memories of the past begin to give way to a potentially grim future.Produced and directed by Michael Corrente (Outside Providence, American Buffalo) and written by Emmy Award Winning writer Terence Winter (The Sopranos)
If Brooklyn Rules, a tale about a trio of good fellas making their way through the mean streets of that New York borough, just happens to remind you of the work of Martin Scorsese, you're not the only one. But even if it's not the most original film in cinematic history, director Michael Corrente's 2007 effort is entertaining enough to hold one's attention for most of its 99 minute running time. Michael (Freddie Prinze Jr., who also supplies the voice-over narration), Bobby (Jerry Ferrara, Entourage's Turtle), and Carmine (Scott Caan, son of James) are the kind of punks who stole money from the church collection plate when they were Catholic schoolboys. Cut to the 1980s, when they're in their twenties, still close pals but following divergent paths: Michael, a smart, ambitious Columbia undergrad, plans to become a lawyer, while nerdy skinflint Bobby ("You're so cheap, if you saw a sign that said 'free slaps in the face,' you'd be the first in line," says Mike) hopes to land a gig at the post office, and the narcissistic Carmine is falling in with the wrong crowd, courtesy of Caesar Manganaro (Alec Baldwin), a captain in the Gambino crime family. Needless to say, conflicts ensue, as Michael scores a WASP girlfriend (an underused Mena Suvari), a mob war breaks out (based on real events, including the murder of big boss Paul Castellano and the ascension of John Gotti), violence strikes tragically close to home, and the f-word is employed liberally. Corrente does a nice job of evoking an era in which Billy Idol and Culture Club ruled the airwaves and Cabbage Patch Dolls were all the rage; and writer Terence Winter, a veteran of The Sopranos, has an ear for colorful, pithy dialogue ("That cardigan makes you look like the Italian Fred MacMurray"Â? "Depressed? She wouldn't be happy sitting in the lap of Jesus"). But a largely unsatisfying ending underscores the fact that Brooklyn Rules is nothing to go to the mattresses for. Extras including commentary by Corrente and Winter and a video accompanying the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil," which is featured on the soundtrack. --Sam Graham
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