Kill the Irishman

Kill the Irishman - Dir. Jonathan Hensleigh (2011)

"...if any of these maggots in the so-called mafia want to come after me, I'm not a hard man to find."

Cleveland is known as the home of the Indians and the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Most folks don't realize that the city was also known as a hotbed for the mafia back in the 70's. In fact, Cleveland earned the dubious nickname of "Bomb City, USA" due to the violent struggle between rival mob factions and their use of bombs as the preferred method of murder. Thirty-six explosions were set off in 1976 alone. Hip deep in the thick of things was an Irish gangster by the name of Danny Greene, who serves as the basis for Kill the Irishman, a fictionalized account of those violent events. Kill the Irishman was co-written and directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, who also wrote and directed The Punisher, starring Thomas Jane in the titular role. Oddly enough, the star of his newest film is Ray Stevenson, who took over as Marvel's premiere vigilante in the sequel/reboot, Punisher: War Zone.

Stevenson plays Greene as a physically imposing man with a barrel chest and a shock of strawberry blonde hair. His rise in the world of organized crime began as the head of the dockworkers' union. To consolidate power, Greene struck a deal with the Italians in exchange for goods pilfered from errant shipping containers. It was through this relationship that Greene met John Nardi (Vincent D'Onofrio), who would become one of his staunchest allies and the only Mafioso that actually liked the Irishman. A scathing news article exposed Greene's corruption and he was banned from the union for life. He escaped jail time by agreeing to become an FBI informant. In real life, Greene was one of the highest profile informants for the feds along with Whitey Bulger, the recently arrested mob boss who served as an inspiration for Jack Nicholson's character in The Departed.

Greene would eventually work as a leg breaker for notorious loan shark Shondor Birns (Christopher Walken). A sour business transaction would end their relationship and ignite a blood feud between a mafia desperate to retain control of the city against Greene's gang, which was quickly consolidating power. After surviving multiple attempts upon his life, including an explosion in his home, Greene brazenly dared the mob to come after him during a televised interview. Of course, the all good things must come to an end.

Kill the Irishman is a familiar story told in a familiar way and full of familiar faces. To put it bluntly, it's a knockoff of Scorsese films and assorted episodes of The Sopranos. Hensleigh recycles plenty of ideas from movies like Mean Streets and Goodfellas. There's a montage showing Greene's rise to power and chart-topping pop songs ironically contrasting violent scenes. The dialogue consists of clichéd tough guy lines like, "Your enemies are my enemies."

Pretty much anyone who has ever played a gangster is in Kill the Irishman. There's Walken, D'Onofrio, Paul Sorvino, Steven Schirripa, Mike Starr, Tony Lo Bianco, Robert Davi, Tony Darrow, and Vinny Vella, along with Vinnie Jones (sporting an awful looking tan and an even worse Irish accent) and Bob Gunton. Linda Cardellini takes on the Lorraine Bracco role of the put upon wife who can only stand by her man for so long. Finally, Val Kilmer appears as Det. Manditski, a former childhood acquaintance of Greene's who serves as narrator. This cast of noted character actors is the film's sole saving grace and serves as fine support for a strong performance by Stevenson. The former Titus Pullo imbues the role of Danny Greene with a natural charisma, even if the character is thinly written. Greene is painted as a Robin Hood figure and a blue-collar underdog in t-shirts and jeans defiant against the elitist Italians in their tailored suits.

Hensleigh adds to the authenticity by dotting the narrative with archival news footage of the actual events.

Kill the Irishman fails to live up to the renowned gangster pics it tries so hard to emulate. It's neither original nor memorable, but is worth a look because of a game and talented cast. Hey, Christopher Walken is always fun to watch.

Rating: ** (*****)

Repo!: The Genetic Opera

Repo!: The Genetic Opera - Dir. Darren Lynn Bousman (2008)

There are only two words in the English language that could describe Repo!: The Genetic Opera. One is ‘cluster’, the other rhymes with the last name of a Disney character named Donald. Repo! is a Gothic, industrial sci-fi rock opera, the by-product of Tim Burton and Baz Luhrmann. Unlike the typical musical where characters suddenly burst into song, nearly every line of dialogue (except for two or three) is sung. As such, the music of Repo! is an unrelenting barrage of industrial, pop-punk sounds.

The concept began in 2002 as a stage play written by Darren Smith and Terrence Zdunich with Darren Lynn Bousman (who helmed Saws II through IV) as director. Set sometime and somewhere in the future, humanity has suffered from an epidemic of organ failures. In the wake of these tragedies, a conglomerate known as GeneCo has risen into power, providing the population with the organs they so desperately need. The catch, however, is that should you fall behind on your payments, GeneCo will send a repo man to cut it right out of your body.

GeneCo’s CEO is Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino), a Machiavellian King Lear who is dying from an unnamed illness. Largo has no desire to leave his technological kingdom to his three squabbling children. There’s the hot-tempered Luigi (horror movie vet Bill Moseley) who has no qualms over killing somebody just for bumping into him. Second is Pavi (Skinny Puppy frontman, Nivek Ogre) who wears a macabre mask of flesh stapled over his own scarred visage. Pavi is also the only Largo to speak with an exaggerated accent. The youngest is daughter Amber Sweet inexplicably played by Paris Hilton. Ironically, Amber is a pampered and spoiled little brat who is the poster child for GeneCo. She’s also heavily addicted to surgical procedures which have become as trendy in the future as tattoos and eyebrow piercings are today. But, this is not their story.

The main protagonist is, ostensibly, Shilo Wallace (Alexa Vega from Spy Kids all growed up) who suffers from a blood disease and lives under the iron fist of her overprotective father, Nathan (Anthony Stewart Head). Nathan is a doctor and widower who failed to save his wife, Marni (Sarah Power) from the same disease that’s been passed down to his daughter. Since her death, he has been forced to work for Rotti as his repo man. Rounding out the ensemble cast are Blind Mag (Sarah Brightman), a singer and spokeswoman for GeneCo with tricked out eyes that emit holograms; and the Graverobber (Zdunich), a pseudo-narrator and chorus who peddles a painkilling drug called Zydrate. The film builds to a crescendo during the climax which takes place at GeneCo’s annual celebration, the Genetic Opera, a Grand Guignol of tragic revelations and death. Just like all good operas. Oh, and Paris Hilton’s face falls off. That’s got to be worth something, right?

Yes, that is a lot to absorb. Repo! crams about a million different ideas and songs into its scant 98 minute runtime. One of the many problems with the material is the fact that nearly every character, relationship, and subplot needs a detailed explanation. Flash animated comic book panels are interspersed throughout the first act in order to catch you up to speed with everyone’s backstory. All the while your senses are being assaulted by one musical number after another.

In musicals, you usually have to deal with actors who can’t sing or singers who can’t act. That’s the case here though a few of the cast can’t seem to do either. I’m sure you can guess which young hotel heiress I’m talking about. Not even the great Paul Sorvino is able to give the operatic performance demanded from his character. He might have the acting chops, but not the pipes. Only three members of the eclectic cast are able to do both. Not surprisingly, they have the best numbers. It goes without saying that Sarah Brightman, the former Mrs. Andrew Lloyd Webber (and star of his Phantom of the Opera), is a natural even when she’s buried under Goth makeup, creepy contact lenses, and a tight corset.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans already know Anthony Stewart Head can carry a tune as he did just that in the wonderful musical episode, "Once More with Feeling." Here, Head alternates between ultra-serious and over-the-top to convey Nathan’s devotion to his daughter as well as his own dwindling grip on sanity. Head knocks it out of the park with Bowie-esque vocals on numbers like "Legal Assassin" and "Thankless Job," the latter of which features Head using a hollowed out cadaver as a ventriloquist dummy. He also has a touching duet with Alexa Vega at the end of the film in "I Didn’t Know I’d Love You So Much." Vega also rocks out with a quick punk number called "Seventeen," which featured a dancing teddy bear and a random appearance by Joan Jett on guitar.

Repo! holds the record for the most songs in one film at 64. Not all the numbers could be considered full-fledged songs. A few are essentially bits of conversation sung. None of the songs are really all that memorable other than the ones previously mentioned. A lot of the music is just disharmonious noise on top of noise. That’s a shame as the filmmakers gathered together an equally diverse assortment of musicians to contribute to the recording. Among them are David J. and Daniel Ash from Bauhaus, Stephen Perkins from Jane’s Addiction, and Melora Greager from Rasputina.

The production design looks remarkably good for a low-budget film. The futuristic city of Repo! is like the Los Angeles of Blade Runner if it was built by Anton Furst. However, it’s hard to admire the sets when the film is lit with some God-awful soft lighting. Every character is enveloped by a ghostly glow as if they were getting ready for a cheesecake boudoir photoshoot. It’s not at all flattering and doesn’t fit with the grimy, gritty world that was created.

Repo!: The Genetic Opera is a stark contrast to recent musicals such as Hairspray and Mamma Mia Where High School Musical appealed to the Disney Channel/Abercrombie & Fitch crowd, Repo! panders to the clientele of Hot Topic. But, it’s standing as a dark tour de force is supplanted by the far superior, Sweeney Todd. Repo! might have seemed like a cool idea on paper, but the execution and final product are a mess.

The film screams, ‘cult classic,’ and isn’t going after a mainstream audience. Repo! was originally released on November 7 and only in eight theaters. A small, but loyal band of fans have convinced Lionsgate to screen the movie on a pair of touring, midnight road shows. That’s the audience the filmmakers are hoping to target. Much like Rocky Horror Picture Show, Repo! is only for the midnight crowds who show up dressed in costume and ready to sing along. It will likely gain a devoted following, but probably won’t match the staying power of Rocky Horror, Over thirty years later, Brad, Janet, and Dr. Frank N. Furter are still packing them in, but one can’t picture folks dressing up like Amber Sweet or Blind Mag in the future.

Rating: * 1/2