10th & Wolf - 2006
Straight up mob drama with no surprises. I TIVOed this movie on the strength of Giovanni Ribisi - I always enjoy the passion he puts into a movie. Giovanni doesn't disappoint here.
The movie purports to take place in Philadelphia, but I'm from Pittsburgh and I'm tell'in ya, this was filmed in Pittsburgh. The Steelers, Wholey's Fish Market, the bridges - these are from Pittsburgh. This is, by the way, the only surprise in the movie. Its the same mob story you've seen dozens of times. Tough kid leaves the neighborhood; tough kid returns to the neighborhood; tough kid's old buds are deep in over their heads in mob trouble; tough kid trys to clean up.... just about everybody but the tough kid gets killed by the end.
But even with that said I did have some affection for the flick. Another stand out (beside Ribisi) was "the wise guy we are supposed to hate"; Dash Mihok playing the creepy Junior. At one point he beats a guy to death with his fake leg. His chilling portrayal of Junior made me hit IMDB to research his other work. Find something else he is in and let me know your thoughts.
I certainly didn't leave this movie satisfied. Everything plays out exactly as you would expect - it is very conventional. The performances by Ribisi, Mihok & Piper Perabo (!) pull this movie on to its inevitable conclusion. But I would have expected something a bit more outside the box from Crash co-writer Bobby Moresco.
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