Mixed feelings The good: Michael Pitt , Nina arianda, Michael Rispoli, yul Vasquez . Michael Pitt is great in everything he does. If you caught Arianda in the Lucille ball biopic playing Vivian Vance, you know she's got serious chops.
The bad; Andy Garcia and Cathy Gentile As much as I like Garcia , he was miscast as a boss of a crime family. First off, they don't wear beards. Second, he looks, talks and sounds like a college professor or a classical orchestra conductor...too cultured to be a mob boss, especially in the Gambino family, who were murderous thugs. It seems like they built dialogue for him, because none of his " backstory " is pertinent to the plot. There is a useless bit about making rice balls, and another useless bit about how he became a gangster . As far as Cathy gentile's character, there isn't much of a backstory at all. She's just angry at her son, but really really angry ...and that requires some explanation.. perhaps some scenes were cut that explained why she was so mad at him?
I'd rate this film as a "dramedy" , as there are some pretty funny moments . Griffin Dunne does a turn as the kid's boss , who is also a crime trial junky like they are and he's actually funny to watch.
Ive seen it a couple times, so it's not terrible . Not great. Not bad either..