Herman Blume (Bill Murray, Rushmore, 1998)
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Herman Blume (Bill Murray, Rushmore, 1998) |
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This urban tale of neighborhood small-timers getting mixed-up in a criminal scheme and the after effects on the street is mostly notable for the performances. This is the same basic territory as Scorsese's Mean Streets, which is often imitated but very seldom duplicated. The Pope of Greenwich Village has a lot going for it, but overall is no exception to that rule. Yet, it is still worth a look for fans of this type of flick. Mickey Rourke stars as Charlie, a slick, confident, well-dressed guy in lower Manhattan who has ambitions of leaving the city behind with enough money to open his own restaurant somewhere in the country and living happily ever after with his girlfriend (Daryl Hannah). The main thing holding him back from realizing this dream is loyalty to his cousin Paulie (Eric Roberts). Paulie is ever-scheming and not terribly bright, and some may call him a kind of a dreamer too. More properly, you'll recognize him as an asshole. Either way, he's an albatross around Charlie's neck. After getting them both fired (again), Paulie invites Charlie on a quick caper to rip-off a hundred-and-fifty large from a safe. His cut would be enough to get him out from under and leave the city on his own terms. Of course, trusting Paulie with your future is a bad idea. Complications involving the cops and the Mob ensue, because wouldn't you know it?...Paulie forgot to mention the money belongs to local gangster "Bedbug" Eddie Grant, played by Burt Young (Rocky, Once Upon A Time in America). So now everything is fucked up and Charlie has to figure a way out. Fast. Besides those principals, the cast is just full of great character actors. Kenneth McMillan (Ragtime, Dune) is the old safecracker the boys go in with, Jack Kehoe (The Sting, The Untouchables) is a crooked cop and part of the mess that has to be cleaned up, Geraldine Page (The Beguiled, The Trip to Bountiful) is his protective and realistically ruthless mother, and M. Emmet Walsh is another anxious and crooked member of the police department. Luckily, Daryl Hannah doesn't have much to do except stand around in her underwear (which, by the way, she's real good at). Burt Young was born to play this kind of role, and does so with apparent ease. There are nice vignettes throughout for everybody. Page has hardly any screen time at all, but was Oscar nominated on the strength of a few powerful scenes. Eric Roberts is fun to watch, I must admit. I wouldn't go so far as to call what he does here great acting, but when he starts screaming, "They took my thumb, Charlie!" I guarantee you will be amused. His over-the-top scene chewing is actually just right for Paulie, the loser. And Mickey Rourke, before his career became a joke, does excellent work carrying the film as the lead. Those who only know him as the tabloid nutball appearing in straight-to-video schlock should go back and look at his early career, to see exactly how far he fell. With Pope, Levinson's Diner, Cimino's Year of the Dragon, Alan Parker's Angel Heart, Walter Hill's Johnny Handsome and especially Barbet Schroeder's Barfly he was truly one of the finer young actors around. But the guy self-destructed so fast and so completely, it's scary, and we can only wonder what coulda' been. The plot of The Pope of Greenwich Village ain't groundbreaking stuff, but the characterizations are definitely worth a look. Moreover, Eric Roberts' hammy emoting is a stitch in itself, and come see what Mickey Rourke, the budding superstar, looked like before the fall. |
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