Generation X meets
”
The Godfather
”
is the basic premise behind the new movie
”
Knockaround Guys,
”
currently playing at Premiere Cinemas.
Generation X meets “The Godfather” is the basic premise behind the new movie “Knockaround Guys,” currently playing at Premiere Cinemas.
Although this movie does have some bright spots and most movie-goers will find it enjoyable, it still falls a little short of expectation.
The 93-minute release from New Line Cinemas is not nearly as tough, gritty or hard-edged as its successors in the mob genre, such as “The Godfather,” “Goodfellas” or even “Casino.”
As I watched it I kept getting the feeling that the primary characters in the story were going to break out and start whining or crying about how life ain’t fair and how miserable their lives are.
The movie’s one saving grace is the on-screen chemistry between Barry Pepper, Seth Green, Vin Diesel and Andrew Davoli.
I can’t help but feel that if these four actors were in a better film with a little better script, they could make something magical.
The story starts with a flashback. At the age of 12, Matty Demaret, played by Barry Pepper, fails a test he is given by his Teddy, played by John Malkovich, to shoot the squealer that sent his father to prison.
Shamed by his inability to shoot the informant, Matty grows into a young man determined to make a place for himself in the mob and hangs around with other young mobsters-in-waiting for a piece of a shrinking empire.
Matty wants a chance to prove himself to his father, the notorious mob boss Benny Chains, played by Dennis Hopper, so he begs him for an assignment to prove he can carry his own weight, and he finally gets one – picking up about $500,000 in Spokane.
His friend Johnny Marbles, played by Seth Green, owns a private plane, and Matty asks him to fly the money back East. While stopping for plane fuel in the small town of Wibaux, Mont., Johnny Marbles gets rattled at the sight of a sheriff and his deputy waiting in the airport terminal just ahead of him. Deathly afraid of getting caught by the cops with that much cash in the airport, Johnny drops the bag in a luggage area and ends up losing it. So Matty and the boys fly out and spend the rest of the movie trying to get the money back.
