Mafia Inc

Canadian, not Brazilian trilingual, with a decently performing cast, and with a plausible storyline in which a family with ties to the old country attemps to invest in the building of a bridge between Calabria and Sicilia, that is expected to become enough of a goldmine to be able to go legit. And contrairy to the review as published on the mainpage, with no affliliations, or even an attempt to try to copy The Godfather, at all.

Much ado about nothing around this film, perhaps because it fits into a genre rarely visited by Quebec directors. Very slow start, but the film still ends up finding a rhythm to sustain attention. A classic scenario for the genre, fortunately supported by excellent performances from actors and actresses. The time jumps are well done. The musical choices are sometimes questionable, sometimes adequate, and the few attempts at humor (including a wink or two) are rather unsuccessful. The finale, despite the comments of several columnists, is really predictable. The director leaves himself an opening for a sequel, but one would not be necessary to serve the story. The density of the action present in this film is less than the trailer suggests.

Mafia Inc is an epic gangster drama from Quebec that is partially based upon true events. It tells the story of a tailor's son who got rejected by his father and his dying mother and becomes a member of a mafia family in Montreal because he is friends with one of the godfather's sons. The protagonist is seen as an adoptive son and soon climbs the ranks. However, his ambitions quickly cause some tension and he ultimately becomes a liability. Things get even more complicated when his sister starts dating one of the godfather's sons. The tension reaches its height when the police gets involved.

This epic gangster drama convinces on many levels. The settings bring the early nineties in and around Montreal to life in a realistic way. Some scenes take place in Italy and Venezuela and add some diversity.

The characters in this film are quite intriguing even though they are very antipathic. The ambitious protagonist who is getting more relentless in every scene, his young sister that changes drastically throughout the story, his helpless father who finally decides to stand his ground and the charismatic godfather who can be gentle in one moment and pitiless in the next one are certainly outstanding. The acting performances go along with this as the performers become one with their roles.

The storytelling in this film is quite balanced. It introduces the characters properly, adds a few flashbacks here and there and finds the perfect balance between meaningful dialogues and quite violent scenes. The movie never idolizes criminal organizations and portrays how ruthless that kind of illegal business is.

There are very few things to criticize about this movie. The story is obviously not exactly new. Several scenes are therefore a little bit predictable.

However, fans of gangster films such as The Godfather, Once Upon a Time in America and The Untouchables should certainly appreciate this dynamic, profound and realistic movie. The characters, settings and stories are so interesting that one might soon expect one or two sequels. It's certainly an interesting alternative to the overlong The Irishman.

It does look like it does though, doesn't it? And for some it does - a lot. Now if you see that from the "outside", you do want in. You want to be part of it - well if "you" in that case would be in this movie of course.

If you have seen something like the Godfather, you will kind of know where this is going. And it has quite the ups and downs. A lot of characters and unlike the classic different spoken languages. But it all makes sense - and while there is violence throughout, it is especially one particular action scene towards the end that stands out.

Other than that it is the well known, do not trust anyone. Well maybe yourself ... but even that is something to carefully (re)consider. Good actors, strong solid story and quite a few twists and turns included.

I would say GOOD FELLAS instead of Francis Coppola's masterpiece, because of the biopic and vintage elements involved, with musics of the period which this film talks about. It remains excellent, gritty, bloody and very well acted too. I guess this is one of the best Canadian crime film ever; just guess because I don't know the film industry from Quebec. Anyway, it could hardly have been better.