Kill the Irishman: Men who take on the mafia should be wary of driving cars

Kill the Irishman - Jonathan Hensleigh - 2011

★★-Early on, I sort of questioned how this movie this got made. Has a Gotti quality to it. It did get better. Has some charm. Though the 62% on Rotten Tomatoes seems extremely generous. Figure it was funded by the mob or something. Just feels like everyone is kind of phoning it in. 

Crime flick based on the true story of Danny Greene, an Irish-American mobster who rises to power in Cleveland during the 1970s. Follows Greene's relentless quest for control in the criminal underworld, leading to fierce battles with rival gangs and corrupt officials. With each confrontation, Greene's reputation as a street tough that's not to be fucked with grows. However, his rise to power also attracts attention from law enforcement and the mafia, leading to what feels like a few dozen attempts on his life. 

The film kind of grew on me. Dude becomes a total legend in the world of organized crime for having a 50 Cent, hard to kill quality that is pretty admirable, I guess. Doesn't shy away from the guys that want to kill him either, going to meet them on their turf and what not. You'd think they'd be more careful getting into cars. Maybe get yourself a remote starter, or pay an underling to turn the key over for ya. Just spitballing here. 

The lead, Ray Stevenson, isn't that great of an actor. At least not carry a movie good. Only things I recognize him from are  Punisher: War Zone (he played the Punisher), the Thor movies, RRR, and Dexter. Screenplay isn't great either. I'm all for men in rooms talking, but it's got to be exceptional dialogue performed but exquisite actors. Not exactly an Aaron Sorkin screenplay, if you get my drift. 

Few notable performances. Notably Christopher Walken (who was probably on set for three days) and Linda Cardellini. Think of Cardellini mostly from her work on Freaks and Geeks, ER, and as Hawkeye's wife in the MCU. She sort of kills it then disappears. I don't know why she isn't an A-Lister, but it doesn't seem like it is going to happen for her. Val Kilmer is pretty solid as well, though he is underutilized. 

Others you'll recognize include Vincent D'Onofrio, Vinnie Jones from Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch,Paul Sorvino from every mafia movie ever, and Mike Starr from Dumb and Dumber. Steve Schirripa who played Bobby Baccalieri on The Sopranos has a decent part. Like this guy. Vegan, like myself. Has his own line of plant-based Italian foodstuff. Major points in my cool book.

He also directed The Punisher, the one with Thomas Jane as the Punisher, Welcome to the Jungle, and The Ice Road. Wrote Die Hard with a Vengeance, Jumani, The Saint, Armageddon, and this flick, among others. 

Some notes... Liked that they spliced real newscasts from the 1970s into the film. Brazenly killing a made man is usually not a great idea. Seems to work out fine-ish for Greene, but he tells the mafia to go fuck themselves. Also doesn't seem to be the best course of action. 

Only played in 21 theaters for whatever reason. Had decent returns for its limited release, but only in $1.19 million with a $12 million budget. So, yeah, it bombed. Seems about right. It's also too long. This ain't Goodfellas.