Underwhelming, uneven Brooklyn saga about three boys coming of age in a surprisingly contemporary-looking Brooklyn--which is supposed to take place in the 80s--comes complete with an obligatory (and unwelcome) voice-over and empty performances. For all the male-bonding on screen between its three leads, one grows nostalgic for the freshness and humor of "Pope of Greenwich Village", "Mean Streets", or even an episode of "Hardcastle & McCormack". Subplot involving Freddie Prinze Jr., as a college boy trying to woo WASP princess Mena Suvari from across the East River, fails as Prinze Jr. Evokes none of the charisma of the similarly challenged John Travolta character in "Saturday Night Fever". In fact, none of the movie's characters are interesting, with Caan an unlikeable, midget pizza-head to Prinze Jr.'s cute doofus, and this further dooms the movie's attempts at mixing mushy sentimentality and scenes of punctuating yet distracting violence. Also, the movie's t.v. Style of editing, with its curious lack of master shots, never allows the actors to achieve any authenticity within its dialogue scenes, and this deflates the film's never-ending attempts at humor. Lots of accessory-after-the-fact, 80s pop culture scenery and name-dropping in the script are unnecessary, and, considering the fascinating disbanding of organized crime during the movie's time period, it's too bad the subject matter isn't in a better film and one not so steeped in cliché's. I won't even acknowledge the film's blatant quotes from "Goodfellas" and "Godfather". Hasn't every movie made about the most peripheral of characters related to mob activity already strip-mined the genre? Alec Baldwin brings the film some much-needed gravity. Scott Caan's impersonation of his father is expected.
Review of Brooklyn Rules
Brooklyn Rules
(2007)
Curiously Unmoving Tale Of Stale Brooklyn Characters
17 February 2011
Warning: Spoilers