Kill the Irishman

I've been pretty excited about getting my hands on this film for some time now without knowing very much about it. But watch the trailer and if you're a fan of your 'Goodfellas,' 'Donnie Brasco's and 'Casino's then you'll probably relate.

'Kill The Irishman' has been called the best film since 'Goodfellas' as was stated on the DVD box that came in the mail today. Now all that tells a man to begin with is that the film is the best imitation of 'Goodfellas' there's been since 'Goodfellas' was introduced to cinemas and VHS tapes. Fear not, it is actually good enough to compare to the many times already aforementioned gangster classic and what comes as a surprise is pretty much everything about the film.

Firstly, a synopsis. Danny Greene's story - narrated by Val Kilmer (who lends some heavy support throughout the film) - tells of a tough Irishman working the grain silos at the Cleveland Docks whose rise to infamy begins when he goes to work for the mafia after a jail term for larceny makes headlines due to his muscling in on his former factory boss's business.

Greene is an old fashioned street fighting man who will stand up to anybody and although readily willing to commit crimes to make money, he is an honest and caring man by nature and this quickly endears us to the complex character so easily portrayed by Irish-born up and coming actor Ray Stevenson. I say up and coming but if you're British you'll already know him for television and minor film roles. If you're American you may know him for 'King Arthur', 'Outpost', 'Book of Eli' and 'Punisher: War Zone'.

As events unfold and just as Greene became unhappy with his factory boss, he sees the mafia acting unfairly, abusively and little involved. He declares that he will go into business for himself, meaning that he will inevitably have to declare war on the Italian mafia.

Naturally, what follows is the titular plot; the mafia attempting and failing over the duration of many years to hit the unflappable Irishman as he goes to great lengths to rub it in their faces and get revenge where necessary.

The film, based mostly in Cleveland throughout post-war '70's America, looks and feels authentic but it is the strong, earthy Irish charm that sets it apart from all those old classic I-tallian-American gangster films and a style of film-making that sometimes takes you back even as far as the forties for its occasionally rich film-noir texture.

What I find amazing because this is actually no huge Hollywood film is that 'Kill The Irishman' boasts a hugely classic cast including Val Kilmer (Heat), Christopher Walken (explanation???), Vincent D'Onofrio (Law & Order), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas) and Robert Davi (Die Hard and The Goonies) to name a few. They're all very admirably cast in familiar roles, some unfamiliar which works in favour of plot tiwsts, and help to endear us towards a film that is actually very down to earth and sometimes even hilarious for a such a darkly toned crime drama.

What surprised me the most is the link I made earlier on as I looked over the cast and crew of the film. Ray Stevenson (the last man to portray killer ex-military vigilante Frank Castle AKA The Punisher) being directed as the film's lead by Jonathan Hensleigh, director of the 2004 Thomas Jane version of The Punisher. And the team works brilliantly. Hensleigh who I associated with slow and simplistic storytelling since the latter has really thrown a curveball with this one and I can't help but wonder; what if Hensleigh had directed Stevenson as the Punisher instead, what kind of comic crime caper would we have gotten then? Kill The Irishman boasts some hilariously offensive dialogue that cannot be mistaken for anything but Irish, the film to me at first glance was authentic and quite realistic and I recommend it to everyone with a fully functioning brain and heart. 'Kill The Irishman' is one of the best dramas on offer at this moment!

Ray Stevenson is Danny Greene, an Irish mobster, active in the Cleveland underworld during the 1970s. Greene started as a union organizer and within a short time, won election to the presidency of the longshoreman's guild, which he ruled with an iron fist. He was eventually an FBI informant and was a Mafia enforcer at the same time.

Greene became entangled with the traditional Italian-American La Cosa Nostra with his own crew of criminals who ran gambling operations in competition with the already established gangsters. A series of bomb explosions made Cleveland one of the most violent American cities of the era.

The movie is brutal but also has great wit and Stevenson is as charming as can be as Danny Greene. The supporting cast includes Vincent D'Onofrio, Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken, and all are as good as expected. This may very well be the best unknown and unseen crime drama ever released.

Ray Stevenson carries this otherwise amateurish production into the realm of almost great.

None of the side characters get enough time to shine, thanks to a script that should have been more polished before making it.

The story is interesting enough to make a great film - it just needed someone like Scorsese to bring life to it.

Still, Ray Stevenson is so great as Danny Greene - that the thing is watchable.

Val Kilmer is probably the worst part of it, though I hate to say it.

It is from the time in his career where his passion was long gone, but he still needed paychecks.

Walken is shamefully wasted.

I was surprised at how this was a really well told story.

It was made in 2011, but took place in the mid 70s. It is the story of Danny Greene an Irish mobster who would not sell out to the Italian mafia as they fought over turf in Cleveland.

And the Director, Jonathan Hensleigh did a great job on the direction and script. Too many who knew him, Danny had a 'good' side and a bad side and it was represented in the movie. Danny served Turkeys at holidays, saved an old lady from an explosion, yet easily planted a bomb to eliminate adversaries.

Jonathan told the story in 70's film language which has a lot of natural lighting, some hand held camera, realistic scenes, and sort of a cinema-verite feel to the movie. This made the film seem like a documentary but without the ponderous narrator and constant talking heads. Hensleigh told the story with action and character. The lighting, film stock, and camera work was reminiscent of The French Connection, a gritty 70's film.

Ray Stevenson was almost a look alike for the real Danny Greene and added to the realism of the story.

Even the fights were very realistic. There was no whack, thwack of a bamboo rod on leather as is typically overdone in movies. Those fights are a realism unmatched in cinema. a) they did not go on forever, with high kicks and constant up and down moments for the hero. b) sound of fist heating a chin was very real. Fights aren't an array of sound effects. c) most real fights end pretty quickly as in the movie, a few punches and the guy is down and you beat him up, he doesn't keep popping up like a whack a mole after being knocked out. Thank goodness the fights didn't go on forever with 'artsy' camera angles.

The feel of this movie was gritty, and matched the grittiness of the story and labor (garbage and longshoreman activities) and you didn't feel the supporting cast was acting but that you were watching a mafia spy cam on their activities. See the extra features and the movie is pretty much the real story. The supporting cast of name actors had them nicely blended into the background and not upstaging the main character. Nicely done.

I liked the incorporated newsreel footage, and forgot about all those explosions in the 70s in Cleveland. Funny how bombs are the "weapon"of choice for criminal types.

Thank goodness Scorsese did not direct this movie as it would have been over lit and much more hyped up and with those whack fist effects and other posed scenes.

And people died in these explosions, they didn't run ahead of them like Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford to "beat" the blast.

If want to learn about the historic story of mobster vs. mobster in the 70s and an icon of resistance...this is the movie.

I'm not often writing critics on IMDb, but when i checked the page of this movie I was really surprised that there were so few reviews.

I must confess that I haven't heard anything about this movie before I read that there will be free theater screenings of "Kill the Irishman" in my hometown. As far as i know, the film also had a very limited theater release in the USA, which is a sad thing because this movie was surprisingly good and well-crafted and was one of the best films I've seen in the last months.

The film tells the true story of Danny Greene, a tough irish gangster - and let me tell you, it is definitely a story worth telling.

I guess many of you are informed about the story of Danny Greene, so i won't go further into the story.

The movie features an impressive cast including Ray Stevenson, Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken and many other familiar faces known from other mob movies. Ray Stevenson gives an incredibly good performance as Danny Greene and manages to keep his character really violent, but also likable. This movie could give him a career boost for bigger roles.

The direction and the cinematography are very nice and i'm hoping this movie will enable Jonathan Hensleigh more work soon, because he's definitely a talented craftsman.

In some reviews i read that other people complained that this movie is just a ripoff of Goodfellas. That isn't true. The movie stands well on his own, despite featuring some actors known from Goodfellas, and wasn't that also the case in Shows like The Sopranos? Why complain about that? And last but not least, it IS a true story and who grows sick of seeing good mobster movies? Definitely not me.