American Cousins

Occasionally, a movie made overseas for domestic filmgoers is worthy of seeking a wider audience and this gem from Britain, screened at the 2003 American Film Market, is one of them. It has a lot of good stuff going for it.

Two American Mafioso types flee to Scotland when a deal in Kiev goes wrong. In Glasgow, they hide out with Bobbie, a cousin, who operates an ice cream parlor and fish-and-chip shop. Complications arise when a couple of inept Liverpool thugs, contracted by the Russian Mob, turn up to hunt down the visitors. As if this wasn't enough, loansharks are after Bobbie to collect on a loan.

All in all, a pleasant minor comedy which I liked a lot, mainly for its good intentions and above standard acting. Danny Nucci delivers a sympathetic performance as Bobbie augmented by Scottish-born Shirley Henderson, who plays Alice his wife.. She is an actress who first came to my attention with a brilliant performance as Marie Melmonte in the PBS tv miniseries "The Way We Live Now."

I watched this movie for the first time on a flight back from Australia to Germany in early 2004. Living as a foreigner in a country I wasn't born in may have made me a little more susceptible to the story. And the fact that I spent three months in Scotland a couple of years ago also helped. Anyway, I liked the story a lot.

Mind you it is not without fault but not many films are. They are just as fallible as their creators I daresay. It is worth watching though and the cast (especially the late great Russell Hunter) delivered a most believable performance. If there are some stereotypical characters in the story - so what? Ever watched one of the so-called Hollywood blockbusters? That's what I call so stereotypical that it actually hurts my intellect just to think that I wasted my hard-earned money on that kind of rubbish.

I wish there were a lot more films like that one!

Mille grazie, Sergio.

I like the way this movie tackled the subject and how it played out on the screen.

While the two gangsters were very typical, cut from the same cloth one would expect them to be, and even willing to resolve problems the only way they knew how, still they were taught a valuable lesson. On the other hand, while yet maintaining their Italian roots, the 'cousins' were very much Irish and followed their own traditions and values. Following real life, sometimes the misguided perceptions of those outside of a group can be so pervasive, that even those belonging to that same group adopt those ideas about themselves. They then turn around and judge their peers within the group using the same measuring stick, wrong as it is. Anyone who strays away from that is looked at as strange or even worse ostracized. The 'stamp collecting' scene is one good example of this.

Otherwise the movie was good with competent acting. The subtlety of the emotions of the characters as they progressively learned more about themselves from their cousins was quite well done by the lead actors - even Dan Hedaya toned down some of the usual facial Dan Hedayaisms. While it was based on the same love triangle theme seen a jillion times before, it was done differently here and in a unique setting - at least to us North Americans. Check it out.

Two American Mafiosi are forced to lay-low with nice-guy Scottish cousin Bobby after a job in Eastern Europe goes badly wrong. Then one of them takes a liking to Bobby's girl, the other clashes with a local hood, and Bobby finds his world collapsing round him...

This extremely likeable movie is in the tradition of "Local Hero", with the comedy emerging naturally from the interplay of sympathetic, fully-drawn characters rather than gags thrown randomly into a pre-fabricated mould.

The romantic entanglements are also nicely drawn and paced. These seem like real people here, with real flaws and real feelings.

Great performances from Scottish actors Gerald Lepkowski, Shirley Henderson and Russell Hunter, and the American Cousins of the title, Danny Nucci (Titanic), Dan Hedaya (The Hurricane, Mulholland Drive) and Vincent Pastore (The Sopranos) add Hollywood sparkle.

One of those movies which remind you why you fell in love with cinema in the first place.

A pleasant diversion from the mostly shallow and obnoxious gangster genre, American Cousins is a welcome script for wiseguy scenarios, injecting a surprising amount of tenderness and authenticity into the limited budget release. Taking place mainly in Scotland, the story revolves around two US mafioso's who end up having to stash away in this grey-splattered alternate universe, substituting guns and drugs with fish and chips. It is a charming little niche film that got a moderate amount of low-key critical praise, but will likely find a tough time among American markets. The whole Eurofellas vibe, while quite appealing to anyone looking for different angles to detail these types of characters, will largely go unnoticed by most organized crime fans from an emphasis focusing on the intimate and subtly amusing aspects of these hoodlums journey. Also, the heavy Scottish accents, paired with a somewhat bleak production should all but guarantee the movie need not appeal to the chief demographic it was made for on this side of the pond, which might be a good thing.

While the film may not be a hit for the Sopranos set (despite the extended cameo from Vincent Pastore), the gentle and impressively nuanced talent found in this heartfelt synthesis of writer, director and acting overrides most of the film's shoddy production. In turns funny, heartfelt, and vengeful, potency found within this mild hybrid becomes solidified by the great casting choices exemplified by the understated romanticism of lead Gerald Lepkowski and anchored by an always gruffly adorable Dan Hedaya. Do not let the generic cover art fool you, this is about as indie and subtle the gangster drama has veered.