Categorie archief: Films

16. Menace II Society (1993)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Writers: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes, Tyger Williams
Stars: Tyrin Turner, Larenz Tate, Jada Pinkett Smith

This review is part of the feature:

The 33 Gangster Films You Can’t Refuse

A hard-hitting crime drama by the Hughes Brothers.

It opens with two young Black men – Caine (Tyrin Turner) and O-Dog (Larenz Tate) – walking into a store to buy a beer. The scene ends in an armed robbery and a double homicide.

This is where the young Caine ended up. We flash back to his youth in Watts, Los Angeles, in 1965, where, as a boy, he watches his father Tat (Samuel L. Jackson) murder a man in cold blood during a card game. He was initiated into this life of crime early.

Still, Caine seems like an alright guy. When he’s not selling drugs, he’s helping a friend – the single mom Ronnie (Jada Pinkett Smith) and her son, whose husband went to jail – and he’s graduating from high school. If only he could escape from ‘the life’…

His friend Sharif has converted to Islam and wants to leave the city. So there’s an out. But the life of crime is alluring. It’s the only way for them to get some of the things they like. It’s also a sure way to get themselves killed.

The violence in Menace II Society hits you hard – like a sledgehammer. The screenplay is very much inspired by GoodFellas, but with another ethnic group of criminals at its basis. It’s a powerful gangster tale drenched in the reality of Black America that carries an emotional punch.

The ending – no matter how many times you’ve seen it – is still devastating.

17. The Long Good Friday (1980)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: John Mackenzie
Writers: Barrie Keeffe
Stars: Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Paul Freeman

This review is part of the feature:

The 33 Gangster Films You Can’t Refuse

Gangster Harold Shand is having a very bad day. An unknown competitor nearly blows up his mom at church on Good Friday, and an associate of his is whacked at a swimming pool. Harold must uncover who is behind these attacks – and fast – because two American mafiosi are in town to finalize the deal of his lifetime, and he can’t afford to scare them off.

Produced by HandMade Films – George Harrison’s production company – and directed by John Mackenzie (known for the Scottish crime film A Sense of Freedom, based on the autobiography of Glasgow gangster Jimmy Boyle), The Long Good Friday is the quintessential British gangster film.

Bob Hoskins delivers one of the most iconic gangster performances of all time. From his minimalistic yet powerful first scene – Harold striding through the airport to the film’s blasting original score – to the unforgettable final moments, there’s never any doubt about who this character is. Harold Shand sees himself first and foremost as a businessman with a grand vision: to transform London into the glorious capital of Europe. He hosts guests and conducts shady business dealings aboard his luxurious yacht in the London Docklands.

His girlfriend, Victoria – a splendid early role for Helen Mirren – is effectively his co-manager in their criminal enterprise, known as ‘the corporation’. While Harold brings bravura and bold ambition, Victoria provides the keen psychological insight and patience needed to achieve their shared dream: legitimizing their empire.

What makes this movie work so well is how the events affect the lead characters. There is a whirlwind of emotions running through nearly every scene. Harold for example – when learning of the loss of his close associate Colin – can seem genuinely sad one moment and enraged in the next that somebody has done this to him.

The movie is packed with unforgettable scenes, from men dangling from meat hooks during interrogations to Harold’s defiant and hilarious final speech to the Americans (“The Mafia? I’ve shit ‘em!”).

The ending ranks among the most powerful in gangster cinema. Though The Long Good Friday may not be as widely remembered today, it absolutely deserves a reappraisal; this is one of the finest contributions the Brits have made to the genre. And as Harold might say, that takes more than a hotdog, know what I mean?

18. Donnie Brasco (1997)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Mike Newell
Writers: Paul Attanasio (screenplay), Joseph D. Pistone (book), Richard Woodley (book)
Stars: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen

This review is part of the feature:

The 33 Gangster Films You Can’t Refuse

Donnie Brasco opens with New York wiseguy Lefty (Pacino) meeting Don the Jeweller (Depp) in a bar. He wants him to sell a diamond on his behalf, but Donnie turns him down because the stone is a fugazi, a fake, an artificial specimen. We soon learn that Donnie is a fugazi himself. He is an undercover FBI agent acting like a potential Mafia associate.

Lefty likes him a lot and introduces him to his dangerous crew that is part of the Bonanno crime family. Now Donnie is in and he’s assigned to take down Lefty’s boss Sonny Black (Madsen) and his whole crew with him if possible. Pretty soon tension for Donnie reaches a boiling point both in the mob and in his private life with his estranged wife and children.

Donnie Brasco is based on the incredible true story of FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone told in the 1988 book ‘Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Maffia’. You must admire the balls it takes to infiltrate this gang of sociopathic murderers.

The casting agency who did this movie deserves an Oscar. The mob world it takes place in feels 100% authentic and the lead cast is sensational. It is especially enjoyable to watch Pacino, normally a boss in mob movies, play an uncertain, low level, nickel and dime foot soldier.

In the undercover cop genre, Donnie Brasco is up there with the very best, like State of Grace and The Departed. It’s an excellent movie with some very powerful scenes, such as Donnie being forced to help cut up the bodies of slain enemies.

It is also the number one guide to learn how to behave as a wiseguy. There is a whole scene explaining how to use the term fuhgeddaboudit which is both hilarious and unforgettable.

“Forget about it is, like, if you agree with someone, you know, like ‘Raquel Welch is one great piece of ass. Forget about it!’ But then, if you disagree, like ‘A Lincoln is better than a Cadillac? Forget about it!’ You know? But then, it’s also like if something’s the greatest thing in the world, like, ‘Minghia! Those peppers! Forget about it!’ But it’s also like saying ‘Go to hell!’ too. Like, you know, like ‘Hey Paulie, you got a one-inch pecker?’ and Paulie says ‘Forget about it!’ Sometimes it just means ‘Forget about it’.”

19. The Godfather: Part III (1990)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writers: Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
Stars: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Andy Garcia, Talia Shire

This review is part of the feature:

The 33 Gangster Films You Can’t Refuse

16 years after the outstanding second installment, director Francis Ford Coppola completed the series with this memorable, though not flawless film.

Part III was not nearly as well received as the first two movies. While it is true that Coppola slipped up once with the casting of his daughter Sofia in the crucial role of Michael’s daughter Mary Corleone, there is still no mistake about it: This is a Godfather movie. And it has plenty going for it.

The main focus of the film is on Michael trying to come to grips with his past, and finding some absolution before fate deals him one final blow. Coppola wanted to call it The Death of Michael Corleone, but the commercially thinking studio wouldn’t let him.

In 2020 they made it up to him and Coppola got to release a slightly altered version of the film called Mario Puzu’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. It is a slightly better version with a more suitable beginning and ending.

Michael is off even worse in this cut that, according to Coppola, is closer to the original vision he and Puzo had for the ending.

Whatever version you pick, it definitely feels like the conclusion of the Corleone family saga. After the dramatic and powerful final act at the Opera House, there can be no doubt about it.