The Palermo Connection (1990) User Reviews

See Palermo and Die

[sol1218 · 7/10 · 14 August 2004]

****SPOILERS***** "The Palermo Connection" starts off as a very interesting film about the corruption in New York City. Due to the influx of illegal drugs a young reform councilman tries to take the profit out of drugs that in the end costs him his life. Councilman Carmine Bonavia, James Belushi, is running for mayor of the city of New York and is far behind in the polls with the election just weeks away.

Trying to come up with a new issue that will jump-start his campaign Carmine comes up with the idea of legalizing drugs and thus taking the profit motive out of them. The Mafia who traffics in illegal drugs uses the drug profits to pay off and corrupt the local police and politicians to look the other way.

Getting married to Carrie, Mimi Rogers,who works on on his campaign for mayor Carmine plans to spend his and Carrie's honeymoon in Palermo Sicily the ancestral home of his parents. He also wants to see from there how his idea of drug legalization does for his chances of him getting elected. Unknown to Carmine the Mafia in both New York and Palermo are setting him up for a fall in order to stop him from taking away their drug profits if and when he gets elected mayor of NYC.

Hard hitting but admittedly slow moving film about the evils of illegal drugs and how their used to destroy physically as well as morally everything that they touch. We get to see how a courageous young big city activist is destroyed in trying to combat that evil.

Carmine's poll number start to dramatically shoot up with him being 11% ahead in the race and in no time at all he's a shoo-in to get elected mayor of the city of New York, this makes the nervous Mafia bosses go into action. Getting Carmine involved in the killing of a flower boy, which was really done by the Mafia,in a Palermo fish market the Mafia have him blackmailed by secretly photographing the entire event. The Mafia uses those photos to get him off and at the same time using them as leverage to keep Carmine in line in trying to have him drop the issue of drug legalization after he's elected mayor.

"The Palermo Connection" has it's good points about the cause of crime but is too slow and takes a lot of attention to really follow and understand the film. There's almost no action at all in the movie and there are times that it lags by putting in scenes that seem to have nothing at all to do with the story the film is telling it's audience. The mystery as well as sultry women who seems to be trying to split up Carmine and Carrie in Palermo by starting an affair with Carmine is one such example.

One thing you have to say for the movie is that it's about as honest as a film can get about the drug menace that's destroying almost ever major city in America, as well as all over the world. With the active participation of those law enforcement officials who are sworn to combat it.

Scenery Is Gorgeous; Movie Is So-So

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 28 June 2006]

The best part of this film is simply to see Palmero, Italy. It's like watching a travelogue, and that's fine with me because I love all the greens and browns of Italy. This movie reminded me of scenes in "The Godfather." scenery-wise.

The story is a very simple one and it's drawn. However, it's not as as boring as it should have been. Basiscaly, it's a plug for legalizing drugs with the intention of putting the Mafia out of business and make it safer for kids (supposedly) who wouldn't have pushers bothering them. It sounds good.....but, in practice, it hasn't worked as we have found out in at least one other European country.

This is a slower-paced film which might not appeal to people expecting a tough crime movie. It wasn't memorable, but palatable and certainly pleasing on the eyes.

I liked it.

[Elewis1195 · 7/10 · 24 July 2017]

The trouble with making a mafia film is that you either want to get it right and accurate or, you can go over the top and just make it a shoot-out. The biggest flaw with this film, in my humble opinion, was that it's simply not accurate. Legalization of drugs is an interesting social and political argument, but that's not really relevant to the movie. A man gets elected Mayor, he says "legalizing drugs will improve things" his life is threatened. That's basically the whole movie, but what's effective about it, is that the Mafia truly comes across as menacing and immensely difficult to cross. I liked that aspect of the film very much.

Where the film fails is, legalizing drugs isn't so simple as a mayor saying "this is what we will do", often the laws are federal and the way he was shot at the end, right after giving a speech that right there could make a martyr out of him and do more harm for their cause to keep drugs illegal than him staying alive. I still found the pace of the movie, slow, but steady and the tension was real. I was engaged while watching it, but looking back, the inaccuracy of the way it played out bothered me.

Unforgettable Palermo

[[e-mail] · 22 August 2003]

The Director Francesco Rosi have sign this extraordinary documentary-reporting on the Italian Mob and his relation towards the U.S.A and the Palermo beauty. Rosi is a very good artist, every of his work is extremely real and passionate, he narrate the story and the origin of `his' Palermo with such ability and the that he totally rape you, also if the story is inspired by a book how in this case. Carmine Bonavia is a candidate for a Major of New York with clear Sicilian origin that for grow up in the soundings declared he favorable on the drugs legalization. During his trip wedding through the Palermo city he is beginning to think that maybe this operation can truly `make a difference' for the people, but `they' aren't agree on this question...'Dimenticare Palermo is very interesting for many reasons: 1)the actuality of the arguments treated;2)for knows better the marvels of this country;3)for the intense and dynamic play of James Belushi in the leading character, maybe on the top of his career and all of the rest cast many of them Italian and all very good. The story cleared the relation between Mob and Politic and maybe the line that divided Goods and Evils is so thin that it's almost inexistent, where a man that would truly `make the different' can't do nothing cause the system is too great, dirty and corrupted for him. James Belushi is great in the powerful and energy role of Carmine Bonavia and during the developed of the story is truly touching his glance to a man blocked and set impotent but not still defeated. My rate is 8.

One of the Worst I have ever seen...

[hooahmom · 1/10 · 6 February 2002]

One of the worst movies I have ever seen. Excruciatingly slow moving, this film never lives up to it's promise. Solid performances by actors cannot rescue this film from it's thin plot line, slow pace, and characters you can't begin to care about.

I have seen better drama in high school theaters.

so awful i couldn't even sleep through it

[mercysweb · 1/10 · 9 February 2005]

i think James Belushi really needed some quick cash because while he's not exactly an a-list actor he certainly has done better work than this . i mean who actually thought that anyone would or could sit through this burnt turd.i just want to warn all my fellow movie buffs. some movies although slow can be appreciated but not this snot stain. so if your in the mood for an older movie that maybe you haven't seen then try FLASHPOINT with Kris Kristopherson. but to fair don't give up on Jim Belushi just yet, just look at this as #1 he needed the money, #2 he didn't think anyone would see it anyway, and #3 he forgot to read the script but that doesn't matter because it doesn't make sense anyway.

Did we watch the same movie?

[erinecfl-1 · 8/10 · 23 April 2012]

Great film. Okay, I do have to admit it has been almost twenty years since I saw the film, but it has always stayed with me and I've actually referenced it from time to time when discussing the worlds drug issues. Although not a film you'd expect to see James Belushi in, I thought it was well acted and well written and Belushi fans will appreciate the fact that there is more to Belushi than just comedy. It gave an interesting take in "the war on drugs". As the audience identifies with the main character, thinking as he that the best way to fight drugs is the classic; don't legalize, get rehab centers for drug abusers etc..., the movie educates the main character and you as to why this may not be the best solution and who is really profiting. It is a smart movie, but you certainly do not need to be a genius to follow it, as I was only 17 when I watched it and followed it just fine. So maybe they don't blow something up every five minutes, but there is lots of intrigue and conspiracy to capture and retain the attention of your average movie-goer. Give this movie a chance! I think many will be entertained as well as educated! Has anyone else noticed that this movie has seemed to disappear, at least in the US? Even IMDb does not list a US release date. Perhaps this movie is too close to the truth. If anyone finds an English version out there please share!

Why drugs will never be legalized

[phora-1 · 10/10 · 3 June 2003]

It depicts why drugs will never be legalized as the problem extends far beyond the casual users and addicts and deals with the big money behind the problem and the bureaucracies built to deal with the problem. The DEA, banks, organized crime etc.

Surprise to see Belushi in this gem

[qblhdon · 8/10 · 3 November 2007]

This was a surprise film for me, a surprise in seeing Jim Belushi do this film, that is. He was just coming out of the cloud of his brother and I think he tried to get into serious (versus comedic) cinema. This might have been the wrong vehicle as a step-out serious film. Unfortunately, this film, for a good lot of American audiences who generally need their cinema spoon-fed, is lackluster. But, as one poster mentioned the film is much like a travelogue of Palermo, the only thing missing is the smell, scent & the tactility that only actual placement can give. But the vivacity, spirit, color, timbre and mystery of the place is certainly provocatively portrayed in this film. I did not like the on-screen marriage of Mimi Rogers with Mr Belushi, but I felt he did quite well with the script as he could best interpret it, the little professional acting he had when this film was produced. The scene where he follows a stunning woman (Caroline Rossi?) continues, some years after I watched this film, to play itself back. The ending surprised me for a quick moment but then, again, what other ending could there be. We have a drug problem in the USA, as well as other countries, because there is an ample well of providers, including those who claim allegiance to its ills & dangers, in addition to a hungering population seeking any avenue of escape other than self-examination and the long process of self-cleansing. You can't expect a hungering populace to stop taking drugs that when you ask them to take a pill for what ever ills you. This film basically says the powers-that-be will not allow the drug to stop and will kill whomever tries to stop. If you're expecting what is now considered a typical drug/conspiracy movie you will be disappointed. You will have to do a wee bit of thinking, but not enough to tire yourself if you're not a natural thinker. If you're looking for a good movie of intrigue & mystery set in the intriguing & mysterious major city of Sicily then you could be pleasantly surprised. It is not your normal fare, for this type of film, but your IQ has to be a bit more than that of a gnat.

This is the best film my father has ever seen

[The-Boy · 2 March 2003]

I just wanted to chime in against all of the opponents of this cinematic mastepiece. Superbly acted and fast paced, i saw this film under the keen direction of my father, Dennis K, and god bless him, he was right: THIS IS THE GREATEST FILM EVER MADE.