Kill the Irishman (2011)

Did this movie escape your radar? If so, it is well worth the watch.  The long list of big names makes this story increasingly interesting as it unfolds.

Ray Stevenson is the constant in this equation.  The common thread, and a very good one. Val Kilmer, Vincent D'Onofrio, Christopher Walken, Finnula Flanagan, and many others play a mix of Cleveland organized crime figures in the late 1970s.

Tony Lo Bianco, Robert Davi, Steve Schirripa, and Paul Sorvino among others play their New York connected Italian competition.  All do a super job.  This is a great all-star cast.

With a great mix of archival news footage this story unfolds as it happens.

Watch this with anyone who has lived in or been to Cleveland.

Four Brothers

This story runs deeper than your average revenge pic. There are plot and character twists that make it much more interesting AND much more fun.

Director John Singleton takes a great script and turns it into a well-told, smart, funny, sad, but also satidfying story. The plot and characters are do believeable one might expect this to be based on real events. No doubt there are real people behind everyone in this movie. There are no over-the-top, hard-to-swallow, performances.

You may not recognize Fionnula Flanagan's name, but I bet you've seen her face and heard her voice. She has been a familiar face on American TV since the days of Bonanza. For the fans of "Waking Ned Devine", she played the wife of the main living character. Brilliantly.

In this movie she plays the adoptive mother of children who are difficult to place in foster care. What she ends up with is four difficult boys who are not related to each other, but have this wonderful soul for a mother, in common. These same four "brothers" unite as adults to revenge the murder on their adoptive mother on the steps of her home.

Garrett Hedlund, Andre Benjamin, Tyrese Gibson, and Mark Wahlberg play the four bothers. The chemistry between these professionals is amazing on the screen. Not everyone could have pulled this trick off, but somehow these guys make it work.

The movie has a dark look, but that is no trick. Shot entirely on location during the winter, all the snow is real, including the scene on the frozen lake. Allegedly, outside temperature never rose above 24 degrees Fahrenheit during shooting. Detroit IS a cold place in winter.

The language is graphic as is the violence. In fact, I'm told some very big box office names turned down the roles because the script was too violent. Ouch. But along with that comes a great dose of family as each of the sons, in turns, have visions of the deceased mother.

If none of the above scares you off, watch this movie with someone with whom you have a bond but are not related to.