Reviews

Okay, so this is no Goodfellas, but if you like Goodfellas then it's well worth a watch. It's funny to see a role reversal with DeNiro and Pesci from Raging Bull. Now Pesci is the 'animale' and DeNiro the placid, reasonable man. Pesci is scary here, another classic movie psycho.

Sharon Stone is excellent in this film too. If you like Scorcese's style (pauses, tracking shots, voiceovers, Rolling Stones music) then this is well worth checking out.

Having said that, it only ranks after Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Mean Streets and Goodfellas. I'd watch these four first, you'll get a real idea of Scorcese's genius behind a camera.

Me and my best friend (we're both nearly 30) went through phases of endlessly quoting lines from this to each other, as in, "The decision to flee came suddenly", "One more toke you fool", "Back door beauty", and so on.

Johnny Depp and Del Toro really put in career-topping performances here. I wouldn't recommend it, though, for the more conservative among us. As a person who has an idea of what went on in the '60s, I could appreciate it. Couple of too-old dudes go around off their proverbials on drugs.

Dialogue is excellent, Terry Gilliam's direction is fantastic, and the acting is beyond reproach. Also, Cameron Diaz is in here, in her usual annual bid for credibility. No-one cares, Cameron.

Have to give it 10/10. It's up there with GF2 and Once Upon...America in my mind.

I thought that Billy (the kid - no pun) was really good in this film. Apparently the scene with the French toast (if they remade it now, would that be Freedom toast?!?), the ice cream scene, and the meeting in the café with the wine glass smashing were all improvised.

It would have been easy for this to oversentimentalise, and I know a few people were disappointed with the ending. But I thought it was good. Life is random, and '70s films don't all have to have an anti-Hollywood ending.

All in all, fine performances from Dustin, Meryl and the boy. While not a classic '70s movie in the mold of Chinatown, Taxi Driver or Godfather, this is still well worth the two-and-whatever hours.

This really is an excellent film, one of my favourites, up there with Godfather II and Once Upon A Time In America. Sean Penn's acting has never been better, and Gary Oldman is a revelation. Ed Harris is intense and does a great job, as always. It's unusual to have a gangster film with such fine across-the-board acting.

I think this film "bombed" (i.e. didn't have queues around the line - but then who cares about that?) back in 1990 because it had to contend with Goodfellas, Godfather III and Miller's Crossing.

All in all, an accurate portrayal of Irish life in America from that time, and an acting tour de force. Also, the dialogue and action are pure Tarantino, before Tarantino was there. *****

Benigni (of La Vita a Bella and grandstanding Oscar acceptance speech fame) and Steven Wright (of all those great quotes cult-fame) sit out a mini-marathon of coffee and cigarettes over a few minutes. It's in black and white, and has a bit of a timeless quality to it - it was filmed in the 80s, but could have been made yesterday.

Basically, the two introduce themselves to each other, stumble over a conversation involving coffee, cigarettes, dreaming and the Indy 500. Finally, the conversation comes to an upcoming dental appointment and the punchline. Steven Wright is left with a faintly bemused look on his face and that's it.

It's a good little short, but outside of it being part of last year's "Coffee and Cigarettes" film (a collation of several shorts involving Bill Murray, Tom Waits, Cate Blanchett and a few others) it's a bit of a curio. Interesting to see Benigni ten years before his breakthrough. If you like this, check out "Down By Law", which is a feature-length Jarmusch film, also in cultish b&w.