Lorenz1060

I confess: I am an Art House junkie, and contemporary crime/action flicks usually aren't my thing (while I can appreciate their contributions to the genre, I don't even enjoy classics like "The Godfather" and "The French Connection"). But this grabbed me the first time I saw it in 1990, and now - 35 years later - it still holds up.

Was Sean Penn ever that young? He was, and spectacularly so, and continues to be one of the greatest actors of his generation. As is widely mentioned, this is a break-out film for Gary Oldman, who tears into the excellent screen play like a rabid dog. Robin Wright is stunningly torn between her brothers' crime syndicate activities and trying to break out of Hell's Kitchen. Another newcomer - John C. Reiley - delivers a knockout performance in his second film. Hell, we even get Burgess Meredith, who moved from Broadway to film in 1936, in a moving cameo.

Joanou's direction is tight, and the cinematography perfectly captures the underbelly of Manhattan, where I lived at the time it was filmed. It really did look like that.

What grabs my gut from the first frame, however, is Ennio Morricone's melancholic, eerie, jazz-influenced score. I still have the CD of the soundtrack.

This is an underrated gem and deserves to be seen. It will stick with you, as it has with me for 35 years.