State of Grace | Sean Penn, Ed Harris

State of Grace | Sean Penn, Ed Harris | Great and gritty mob movie

DVDs:

State of Grace

	State of Grace Sean Penn, Ed Harris MGM (Video & DVD), 2002 average customer review:based on 66 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Too often overlooked

I saw this film a good six years ago and the gritty, ugly, and tortured atmosphere has never left my mind; Gary Oldman's perfomance as Jackie Noonan, Irish mob psychopath, transcends a lot of what he has done since.
Who can forget when he innocently pulls out a severed finger from his icebox, laughing like a child, and shows it to his shocked and horrified brother, Terry? (Sean Penn). Or the beautifully stereotypical ending set on St. Patrick's Day?

This story of a quickly fading Irish mob family is one of psychopathic codependence, betrayal, and redemption through vengeance. Ed Harris is absolutely despicable, the type of character you want to reach into the screen and strangle, as the treacherous and self-interested head of the family, Frankie Noonan. Jackie's murder at his hands (as an appeasement to the more powerful local mob) is like watching a demented but innocent toddler go to his death at the hands of his parent.

Momentarily Burgess Meredith, as a broke old Irish apartment holder named Finnn, sorta reprises his role as Mick in a way (no pun intended); he screams at Terry (Sean Penn) in much the same way way he went roids on Sylvester Stallone. Only Terry's not dumb.

Terry takes care of business in the end, ditching his role as undercover cop and using street justice to avenge Jackie's death. This is the worst St. Patrick's Day you've ever seen; not one person is without a firearm in hand, beer, and fashionably worn leather jacket. A great mood piece.

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Great and gritty mob movie

This is one of my all time favorite mobster movies. You have a great cast of actors including Sean Penn, Ed Harris, John Turturro, John C. Reilly, Robin Wright and Gary Oldman. This is Gary Oldman's movie by a mile and if you appreciate the man and you haven't seen this film, you need to put this one on priority. Definitely an overlooked gem and well worth two hours of your life.

The DVD for the film is okay. The picture is crisp and the audio is a pretty decent 5.1 surround mix. The only special feature is the theatrical trailer which in my opinion is way too revealing. Other than that, I can't really complain about this disc being that it's being sold for so cheap. Definitely worth at least a look.

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NYC Irish crime at it's last hurrah

Boston cop (Penn) returns to his old neighborhood in NYC known as Hell's Kitchen, a tenderloin slice of the west side of Manhattan long known by the NYPD and the FBI as an Irish-American criminal arena. He is assigned to take down a brutal gang run by Frankie Flannery (Harris) and his out-of-control brother, Jackie (Oldman). They are his childhood buddies, which tears his loyalty in half. Penn and Harris are amazing. Yet, like alot of other reviews, Oldman steals the show. Gary once said this his favorite role of all time, I can see why. Rated R.

Underrated

In the gangster genre, this flick more than holds its own. As far as Irish gangster movies go, this is the best one I've seen - not that there are a whole lot of Irish gangster flicks. Better than "Departed". See it!

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