How do you change a gangster classic into a silly Hollywood fantasy written by someone who does not have a clue how organized crime works? Just ask the writers of this film. Just the description of the main character will give you an idea of their naive notions. A "retired" accountant for the mob? A former member of the mob who has gone straight? Please. You are either all the way in, or you are all the way out. There is no "retirement". This film is built on the premise that you can "go straight" after you have been an insider with the mob. Anyone who believes that should buy a bridge that is for sale in Brooklyn. Richard Conte does a great job with material he is given, as does Kathryn Grant and the supporting cast. But the ending of the film has absolutely no relationship to reality; not that Hollywood has to be real, but this one would have been far more impactful had the real ending been rendered, and I think that anyone with half a brain knows what that ending would have been. Sometimes, a realistic ending is far more powerful than some Hollywood fantasy.
Review of The Brothers Rico
