Knockaround Guys - 2001

New Line Cinema, Lawrence Bender Productions

Directed and Written by Brian Koppelman ,David Levien

Cast:

• Matty Demaret – Barry Pepper
• Chris Scarpa – Andy Davoli
• Johnny Marbles – Seth Green
• Taylor Reese – Vin Diesel
• Teddy Deserve – John Malkovich
• Sheriff Decker – Tom Noonan
• Benny “Chains” Demaret – Dennis Hopper
• Brucker – Kevin Gage

Story: Matty Demaret is 13 years old, and he has to make a decision. Teddy Deserves has Benny Boulevard in a basement trussed up like a prize turkey and tells Matty this is the guy responsible for his dad, Benny Chains, being in prison. Teddy hands Matty a gun and tells him its time to step up and be a man. But Matty is 13 years old, and can't pull the trigger.
Now Matty is in his early twenties, and he and his three friends are finding life just a little more difficult than they thought. Matty has the education and some experience in sports and wants to become a sports agent, but when his dad's name is brought up, its “thanks, but no thanks”. Chris Scarpa runs his dad's restaurant, Taylor Reese works as an vending machine distributor, and Johnny Marbles is a cokehead who has his own airplane. Their fathers, all old school mafia, have brought them up “privileged”, so they have never been involved with the dirty end of the business. Matty, since he can't get a job in his field, decides he wants to work for his father. A job comes up, a job that requires almost no effort. Benny needs a loan, and the guy loaning the money is in Seattle. Matty gets Marbles to fly out to Seattle to pick up the money and fly straight back. But when he stops for fuel in Wibaux, Wyoming, he gets paranoid when he sees the local sheriff and his deputy in the terminal and drops the bag in the baggage for a departing flight. Marbles screws up, and Matty, Scarpa, and Taylor have to fly out to Wibaux to find the bag and the money before the local authorities do.

Review: This films proves the consistency of Murphy's Law. If anything can go wrong, it will, at the worst possible time. Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Seth Green and Andy Davoli are all the privileged sons of mob bosses and it shows. They are caught in between their fathers' world and the straight word, and neither world has a place for them it seems. Dennis Hopper and John Malkovich play the boss and underboss to the hilt, two old school “Gumbas” who have a heavy rep and a lot of street cred. When Matty and his “crew” are finally given a chance to prove themselves, Marbles, who swears he is off the nose candy, screws up and forces them to come to his location to bail him out. Seth Green is Marbles, and out of the entire cast, he is the most believable character. I mean, face it, Seth Green has made a living out of being the perpetual screw up, and will likely continue in that role forever. Barry Pepper makes an effort to come off as the crew leader, but he is relying on everyone else to make decisions and call the shots for him. Vinnie comes off as a typical enforcer, a street thug who does have one of the best scenes in the film when he beats the hell out of Brucker, the small town hood who “runs” Wibaux. Andy Davoli has the smoothness of Hugh Hefner when it comes to the ladies, but lacks the mobster mentality. You have to ask yourself what he is doing in the crew. Tom Noonan gives an adequate but two dimensional performance as the Sheriff, and the entire movie comes off like a bad cartoon. Rated R for violence, drug use, and language, this one can stay on the shelf for a long time before anyone rents it, and then its gonna be someone who really likes one of the great actors in the film. Not collectible, and I am sure some of these actors are trying to buy up the copies.

The Italian Job - 2003

Paramount Pictures, De Line Productions

Directed by F. Gary Gray

Cast:

• Charlie Croker – Mark Wahlberg
• Stella Bridger – Charlize Theron
• John Bridger – Donald Sutherland
• Handsome Rob – Jason Statham
• Lyle – Seth Green
• Left Ear – Mos Def
• Steve – Edward Norton

Story: A crew of hi-tech thieves executes a very slick robbery of a safe filled with gold from a townhouse in Venice. They travel out of the city and gather in a circle drinking bottles of Dom Perignon, talking about the things they will do from now on. Suddenly a crew of men with guns rushes in and steals the gold, and one of the crew shoots the safe cracker, and is about to shoot the others then they escape by driving the van off a bridge into the deep water of reservoir. A year passes, and the daughter of the murdered man gets a call from the leader of the heist. They've found the man who betrayed them. Since she is a professional locksmith and security expert, a legal version of her father, she tells Charlie no at first, but soon calls him back and says she is in. The crew plot to recover their gold and to teach the betrayer a lesson he won't soon forget.

Review: Sometimes remakes are a good thing, sometimes they're not. This one is very loosely based on the film of the same name in the 1960's starring Michael Caine and Noel Coward with Benny Hill as the comedy relief. That film was a so-so farce, but this one is a runaway hit. The action starts at the beginning and keeps the pace throughout the film. Mos Def and Seth Green are our comics in this film, but their abilities to shift from comic to dramatic are well played. Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron are well suited to their roles and come off with a very reserved but appropriate sexual tension to add interest to the already interesting hi-tech portions of the film. Sutherland's role, while brief, is the perfect set up for the remainder of the film. Statham does what he does best, and his character is a mix between The Transporter and The Mechanic, with a splash of smooth to balance it out. As always, whether good guy or bad guy, Ed Norton's presence is perfect to create the correct tension in the movie. Good plot, great scenery, and exceptional photography make this a film the entire family can enjoy together, despite the PG-13 rating. Collectible if you like action adventure, although you will probably pull it out as an afterthought.