Crazy Joe

"Crazy Joe" is pretty good but it could have been so much better. The cast is top-notch with standout work from a never better Fred Williamson. It's just that the script needed to be tighter. It sometimes seems to need more focus. "Crazy Joe" may not be a gangster classic but it certainly worth checking out.

I recently viewed Crazy Joe (1974) on Tubi. The film delves into the real-life story of the gangster "Crazy" Joey Gallo, portraying his strategic and aggressive ascent through the mafia ranks, ultimately leading to his downfall.

Directed by Carlo Lizzani (The Violent Four) and featuring a cast including Peter Boyle (Monster's Ball), Paula Prentiss (The Stepford Wives), Fred Williamson (From Dusk till Dawn), Rip Torn (Men in Black) and Henry Winkler (Happy Days).

While it may not be the pinnacle of gangster movies, Peter Boyle's performance is undeniably enjoyable. He delivers a tremendous portrayal of a character that's easy to root for and engaging to follow. The entire cast delivers solid performances, and the shootouts, while very '70s in style, are entertaining. The story's twists and turns may be somewhat predictable, but they remain fun to watch unfold, and the conclusion is executed perfectly.

In conclusion, while Crazy Joe may not reach Scorsese levels, Peter Boyle's presence alone makes it a must-watch, and it's still a worthwhile addition to the gangster genre. I would rate this a 7/10 and strongly recommend it.

The mob life of 'Crazy Joe' Gallo.

This is fairly good mobster movie with some reasonably gritty moments that have aged like the 70s fashions.

It mixes the simplistic gangster narrative that you would see in 30s and 40s movies, with a low budget vibe of 70s New York. There is plenty of tough-talking Mafia lingo and insight into the power structures of certain families. I like that it is loosely based on some real people.

Some of the themes relating to the stereotyping of Italian-Americans and Columbus Day rallies are similar to those used in some plot lines of The Sopranos (only much better on that show). One of the strongest bits of spectacle in the movie is a recreation of one such rally.

The cast is very interesting, led by the amusing Peter Boyle, supported nicely by Eli Wallach, and featuring many recognisable faces popping up in numerous scenes.

The production values are pretty low, with action sequences that are not very memorable and some quite rough editing. One scene you can see an obvious jump in a sequence when Peter Boyle speaks. That being said there are some great location shots. Plus the opening sequence with the opera music and establishing shots is excellent.

It is certainly no classic, but I think it is essential viewing if you are a fan of mob movies.

As far as being a true story goes, it is, but it is very sketchy, very broad strokes. If you know the history of the guy this is just a 1 minute flat quickie pencil sketch. I'm a fan of the director, but he usually puts more into the story and meaning than this. It's a very simple '70s mafia flick that satisfies that craving if you just want 100 minutes of the sights and genre and not much more. It is not an underrated classic. It's a solid, slightly above average example of the genre. It is not in the same league with the top 20 Italian crime flicks of the era (like the "Violenta" trilogy), but is as good as Hollywood's from this period. That's why I give it a six. I love Italian films from the '70s and '60s and consider them to be much better than Hollywood's output. To say one is on a par, is to say it's a bit of a disappointment that way, though I wasn't disappointed to have watched it. Once.

I'm a fanatic about pairing food and movies, and for this one I highly recommend Spaghettini and Red Clam Sauce.

"What do these Hollywood types know about gangsters?" (Crazy Joe, when he encounters a film crew on the street)

Ironically, a good point. (Or was the irony intentional? I doubt it...) Hollywood types have generally proved to know very little about the mob (or almost anything else for that matter), or at least often present aspects of that culture in a misleading or somewhat romanticized manner. However, there isn't too much silliness or idolatry going on here, i.e. CJ's mobsters are to the most part portrayed accurately/realistically, in other words as the uncontrollable sociopaths that they are and always will be. Thankfully, this isn't a Sydney Lumet picture in which the viewer is required/asked to sympathize with criminals by taking an irrational, liberal, childishly anti-establishment attitude. (See "Find Me Guilty", a fantasy mobster court-room drama in which a "happy ending" constitutes a dozen mobster defendants being acquitted of crimes they did commit...)

The radiant 70s look, a brisk plot development, and the generally good cast make up for some occasional flaws.

Fonz as a gangster?? He is about a head shorter than all the (fe)male cast members - and that includes Harve Villachaize. Truly threatening-looking. Not to mention his perpetual "mild-mannered accountant's" facial expression, which he cannot get rid off even if a team of top plastic surgeons tried to help him in that fantastic feat. That was a major casting blunder. What's next... Kate Hudson as head of NASA? Casey Affleck as Superman?

Another casting error, though far less dramatic than the Fonz fiasco, was picking Charles Cioffi to play a rising mob star. An actor's Italian name alone does not necessarily a suitable mafiosi make. He too lacks the aura of psychopathy that even the least violent mobster (which isn't saying much) has, lurking below the surface.

Why do mobsters' wives and girfriends, i.e. harlots, nearly always get portrayed favourably in movies? It doesn't take a brilliant deductive mind or world-class detective skills to figure out that such women can't be morally much more impressive than the scum they they date. Admittedly, Paula Prentiss's character is underdeveloped, but whatever little we see of her seems to be far too flattering for that kind of woman.

On one or two occasions the jumps from one scene to the next are too quick, making the flow of the movie somewhat shaky. It's as though the initial running time of CJ had been 30 minutes longer, and a commercially-driven butchering job had been implemented at the last minute in the editor's room.