Vig

Excellent performance by Peter Falk as a man of good values reduced to making a living as a bookie. He is wealthy in the love he shares with Tyne Daly in a good performance as his loving wife. Tim Hutton plays a useless drunken loser and Ms. Holly gives a fine performance as his loyal wife. Freddie Prinze Jr. gives a posterboy performance for just say no to cocaine.

I loved every moment of the movie. The plot and the characters were believable. Peter Falk, Tyne Daly, and Lauren Holly were great as usual. Lauren Holly's character's sacrifice for her worthless husband was heartbreaking. I encourage people to watch it.

Peter Falk stars as nice-guy bookie and pub owner, Vin, who is slowly being squeezed out by Tony Cicero, an arrogant, ambitious coke-head, who's family connections force Vin to take him on as an assistant, although he is unaware of Tony's plans to "own the neighborhood." Mafia-movie regular, Frank Vincet, plays Tony's scheming uncle who is secretly working behind the scenes to make sure that Vin doesn't get in the way of his nephew's plans to satisfy the boss. Vin soon catches on however, and knows that as Tony keeps pushing his way up, he is destined for trouble and, like a lion in the jungle, will either has to exert his prowess. It's a dangerous game that Vin is willing to play.

I caught this one on TV and it did turn out to be a pretty good drama if you're not already exhausted with the millions of movies about the mob. Although, Freddie Prinz, Jr. was a miscast is barely convincing in the macho role of Tony Cicero, nor could he pull off the accent. His consistent pretty boy appearance and lightweight performance just wasn't enough to make a believable adversary of any of the so-called "good guys" in this movie (namely, Peter Falk as Vin, the owner of the pub). He always looked ready to laugh. Peter Falk, too, came off a bit wooden. (And, the fist fighting and face-slapping scenes were horribly choreographed). But the story may be just enough to interest anyway. Good supporting cast.

well i happened upon this movie on VHS at the thrift store. i feel like i just wasted 5 hours of my life, although the movie run time was probably under 2. it opened up with frank vincent and tony cirico a la sopranos, 2 excellent mafia actors... in an "introduction/set-up scene". "wow, this should be interesting..." i thought to myself. it held my attention through ACT I, but "petered" out quickly. freddie prinze seemed miscast for this. but that is a moot point... i'm only writing this review to forwarn potential viewers... do not waste your time. do not be swindled in by the cast names. it is a waste of a cast. lauren holly is excellent in her role in and of itself - i'll say at least that. But Bottom Line: there's no point dissecting the misgivings in plot, premise, plausibility and aesthetics... it's just a bad movie.

OMG, I love this movie. In the first place, Peter Falk is in it and that makes any movie at least good. Second, there is Tyne Daly... same thing. Two absolutely natural actors who bring up the real estate wherever they are But what really impressed me was Freddie Prinze Jr. He played a character so despicable, I wanted to spit at the screen Anne hope he'd feel it. (I didn't) The only real Boston accent was from Steve Sweeney who after all is a Boston based comic as well as an actor. I lived around those accents so I'm sort of an expert.

The simple story is that Falk is an Irish guy who really is decent but has to make his way in a less than honorable profession. Now he is saddled with a tough punk (Prinze) There's slightly less cursing than a Scorcese flick but not more than a Tarrantino, but this doesn't hurt the story. It makes it just real enough.

Add a couple of Sopranos cast members and it's even more real. Lauren Holly and Timothy Hutton (doing a great Boston accent) as a couple with their own problems. A husband who's a drunk who would steal his wife's check to gamble and a woman who has to deal with him because she loves him, and he's l she's got.

Once again, Frank Vince.t plays his.usual tough guy character who saddled Falk with the punk in the first place.

Not a perfect movie, but a true slice of the underbelly of Boston life and with a "wow" finish.

I can't believe it had problems finding a distributor. There's magic here.