9/10
A surprising little gem
14 December 2009
This new film intrigued us for we were not familiar with the actors, yet the plot looked interesting and in addition a 2009 movie shown the same year usually does not bode well and... I was plain curious what this was all about. There was a limited information on the film to begin on IMDb as if it was just completed days ago. The story is about the mob in Brooklyn and their need to convert to legitimacy to remain alive. When the big boss wants to retire and realizes that the old ways are over and that he is too old, he calls on his wall street well informed nephew to save the business albeit legally. The nephew never being part of the mob scene however ends up swearing to his uncle that he will be the new boss and that the old style gangster business will disappear and all the wise guys will learn the "honest" business of real estate. There is also the standard boy meets girl story here, where the girl is working for the FBI and her whole purpose is to get these gangsters and put them away. This leads to some interesting circumstances when she must deal with the nephew and he with her. First of all I am very delighted with director's work because there is no part of the movie where I would say that this is dumb or what were they thinking? The camera frequently shows Roebling's masterwork, the Brooklyn bridge- several times from a distance in it's full majesty. Considering how old it is and that it still is a vital part of the city's transportation amazes me. The film is shot all around the greater part of Brooklyn as far as I can interpret and the camera angles and scenes were impressive to say the least. We watched this film in High Definition on a large screen and fully appreciated that. The lighting on every scene was done well and the picture was crispy sharp. When the plot is good and the photography is too, one is on the way to a good film. The actors were mostly unknowns yet they didn't fail in their performance and the acting of all, was second to none!. Perhaps salary money was saved this way and channeled in other directions. There was little depth to the characters, yet one could still feel and root for them. The musical score was splendid and certain parts were very moving. I wondered several times who could possibly have composed this score? Everything blended well together with the story and with the addition of older standards, with known singers through out the film supplemented the composer's own work nicely. However I could not locate the composer's name, only his assistant was named..and a sound track is not available yet. Yes... the movie plot is predictable- yet that is fine with me because after it was over, I felt good and concluded that I had not wasted my time- as I had in watching other films, always hoping for something good. There are no review stars displayed as of yet and I seem to be the first. I trust my enthusiasm won't disappoint others when they watch it. There is language used here- so that must be mentioned. I watch a movie to escape from reality for a few hours and this movie did not fail.
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