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A terrible movie.
A Scorsese ripoff, through and through, with the same narrative template as Goodfellas/Casino, but without one whit of soul or artistry. Completely by-the-numbers and completely boring, it's the stiffest and least compelling gangster tale yet offered by any of the Marty-lites that have been polluting the theaters with their bland, derivative retreads over the past five years.
Ray Liotta, who plays Dep's father and unfortunately serves as a constant reminder of a much better film, looks much more like his brother in the early scenes. In one scene, he even manages to look like Dep's younger brother. Until, that is, the horrendous age makeup is applied...
And this is easily the worst makeup I've seen since the awful For the Boys. Ray Liotta's old man look is simply ridiculous. But it doesn't even come close to the absurd "fatpack" that Dep wears throughout the final scenes. Same skinny ass and bony face, but he looks like he's wearing a quarterback's flakjacket or an overstuffed fannypack underneath his billowy button-up. There's simply nothing at all convincing about it. The shot of him walking with his daughter had us rolling. In that scene, the film finally went from excruciatingly awful to hilariously so... and Dep's presence then recalled thoughts of the master-hack, Ed Wood.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Rachel Griffith's portrayal of Dep's mother is the single worst performance I've seen in years. Completely unbearable.
But to give credit where it's due, Paul Reubens managed to make his character (which is, on paper, merely another bad cliche) into something surprisingly interesting and almost real despite its campy excessiveness. But that's small solace in a film this lousy. Dep, too, manages a convincing Boston accent and invokes a few true emotions, but it simply can't save this film.
I've avoided most of the stinkers from this past year, but this one takes the place of Town & Country on my worst list. Flat, uninspired, and thoroughly hokey, this is the Battlefield Earth of Scorsese ripoffs.
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