Hitters

I recently had the pleasure of viewing "Hitters" at the Palm Beach Int'l Film Festival. This film is brought to life by the smoldering performance of Robert Davi as "Nick". From his early scenes of controlled rage to the final denouement when he takes revenge against his enemies, this is a true tour de force for this skillful and under utilized actor. Especially effective is the scene with his enemy, Vince, when Nick's "playful" slaps suddenly turn deadly. It is a pleasure to see Davi in a role that he can really sink his teeth into and show the depth of emotions that he is capable of. He is truly a screen "presence" and holds the audience's attention from beginning to end. I certainly hope that other producers will take note and find some more worthy roles for this very talented actor.

The rest of the cast gives Davi excellent support and combine to make an exciting film experience. There is even some amusing "comic relief" provided by the talented Frank D'Amico.

This is a an excellent film and a "must see" for all fans of the genre.

The Mandylor brothers are great in everything they do, but Louis should of had a bigger role like he did in the "Big Fat Greek Wedding", maybe as Tony's brother in "Hitters" duh.... (although Greg Lauren did a good job), Veteran actor Robert Davi lacked the range of tonal color necessary to make his characterization of "Nick" consistently interesting, missing was the edgy tough guy image that we've grown accustom to in his earlier films.

Joey De Pinto as "Vince" portrayed an out of control, no-nonsense psychotic killer well, Carol Alt was terrific in her dramatic role as Tony's wife "Marie" but for me, other then Costas and Louis Mandylor, Frank D'Amico played his part best, the crying clown story was hysterical. He should send this film to the makers of "The Sopranos", he's a natural Goodfella.

Film wise the movie was good, unfortunately in some parts it was brought down by poor dialogue and needed another trip to the writing block to get a bit more umph to the plot.. In other areas of this presentation, the film work, editing, music and production - were all well above average.



I rate this a B+

The most boring film I saw in recent years. Lots of talking, TV- like acting for displaying total uninteresting and cliché people. There simply is not a single sign of action in the first 20 minutes after the title credits. Is this a mafia film or not ? Where is the gang war the DVD cover talks about? Most annoying is the restaurant owner who keeps reciting Shakespeare one liners all the time. You will loose interest in this poor "main character" fastly. I am honest to say that I saw the rest (after the first 20 min of pure boredom) accelerated, in 4 time - 8 times DVD speed. It keeps being lame. I'm just glad that I didn't spend more time with this total failure film.

This is really Costos Mandylor's movie. His brother, Louis only has a cameo as a cop. Like I said, hit the edited version of this, if you can. The 'gratuitous' cussing is so unnecessary, it hurts! Synopsis: Good guy Tony (Costos) owns a restaurant & wants to keep his life clean & free of what his father used to do - be mixed up w/the Mob. Tony's got a loving wife & a couple of kids & wants their lives kept clean, too. Should he get into the Witness Protection Program to avoid getting in the middle of a Mob war? Afterall, they killed his father & plenty of other people Tony grew up with. Should he take care of things on his own? You'll have to hit the video store, get this & see for yourself.

Wow, what can I say about a cool MOB movie that finally allows Robert Davi to play the good guy (with a naughty past of course) If I were Carol Art, I'd of left Costa for Robert and let him give me foot massages all day. All of the actors were great, even Joey DePinto (who normally can't act his way out of a Wet paper bag-- see his horrible performance as a Cop in Throw Mama From The Train) pulls off a few great one liners. Though he can't seem to look in the same direction as his co-stars. His eyeline sucks!!!!!!! OH, I love how the extras were top billed in the end credits, think any of the producers had them on the couch? 3.14 out of 10