Deuces Wild (2002)

Director:

Scott Kalvert

Writers (WGA):

Paul Kimatian (written by) &
Christopher Gambale (written by)

Release Date:

3 May 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Before gangs had guns... they fought with guts.

Plot:

Two brothers, Leon and Bobby are members of the street gang in Brooklyn known as the deuces. Their brother...

Plot Keywords:

Gang | 1950s | New York City | Street Gang | Gang War

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Stephen Dorff	...	Leon
Brad Renfro	...	Bobby
Fairuza Balk	...	Annie
Norman Reedus	...	Marco
Max Perlich	...	Freddie
Drea de Matteo	...	Betsy
Vincent Pastore	...	Father Aldo
Frankie Muniz	...	Scooch
Balthazar Getty	...	Jimmy Pockets
Nancy Cassaro	...	Esther
Matt Dillon	...	Fritzy
Deborah Harry	...	Wendy
James Franco	...	Tino
Joshua Leonard	...	Punchy (as Josh Leonard)
Alba Albanese	...	Brenda

Also Known As:

Deuces Wild - Wild in den Straßen (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language, some drug content and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

96 min | Spain:100 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #37939) | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | Canada:14A (video rating) | Finland:K-15 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

CineWild

Trivia:

Josh Hartnett was originally cast in the role of Tino but was allowed by the producers to drop out when he won the role of Danny in Pearl Harbor (2001).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the scene between Bobby yelling at his mom and Leon sending him out, someone (clearly not Bobby or Leon) casts a shadow on the wall.

Quotes:

Leon: You don't run the Deuces, I do!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo (2007)

Soundtrack:

For Your Precious Love

Not highly memorable...

Don't you hate it when you're standing in the videostore and you already saw all movies that there ? Those are the moments that you rent movies like Deuces Wild...these kind of titles are never high on your list but you take them anyway because the synopsis doesn't sound too bad and you know the washed up actors in it from their earlier - more glorious - roles.

The stories of these movies are never highly original. We've all seen it before. The only thing movies like this can do is provide the story with a few interesting twists, cool characters and some good looking settings and locations. And, I'm not being too harsh today, Deuces Wild succeeds in doing so. The story takes place in the 1950's. After he lost his brother to an overdose of Heroïne, Leon ( Stephen Dorff ) founds the "Deuces". A steetgang that tries to keep the Brooklyn neighborhood clean. Opposite to this, is the Viper streetgang. Their leader is about to get released from jail and he ( Norman Reedus from Boondock Saints ) wants to take revenge because he thinks Leon framed him. It looks like a war between both gangs can't be avoided even though the true king of the Brooklyn streets, Fritzy ( a small but great role by Matt Dillon ) , strongly warned them not to fight.

Deuces Wild contains a lot of decent actors who never really reached the highest status. You've got the ones I already mentioned, but also known names like Fairuza Balk, Brad Renfro and Deborah Harry. The cast also includes a few upcoming names like James Franco and the annoying ( in my opinion, of course ) Frankie Muniz. They also deliver pretty decent acting jobs but the show gets stolen by the nice and good 50's settings. We're talking old-timers, juke-boxes and lots of hairgel. You're never touched by the story or the characters and that's the biggest disadvantage of this movie. You don't really care who wins or who loses. You never feel involved in the story, but you don't mind watching it. If you ever come across it on TV or at your local videostore...give it a go. It stands for an hour and a half of fun.