Gangster Chronicles

Movies a fun ride from start to finish. Matt Dillon really comes through with a good tough guy character and Kevin Rankin just steals the show every second he's on screen. The whole thing is tied off beautifully by Brendan Fraser doing arguably the best worst elvis impression I've seen in a while.

Definitely sat through much worse films that are rated higher than this one and that's a big part of the reason I've scored it highly, it's no Scorsese level masterpiece nor is it as riveting as your favourite foreign film but it has everything a good film should have in my honest opinion. Definitely has a good amount of replay value as well, long as you a Docs man you'll love it.

This film is a very dark comedy, and is definitely not for everyone, as may be apparent from the previous reviews. As with James Joyce's "Ulysses," director Wayne Kramer's "Pawn Shop Chronicles" follows several characters through their own adventures during a single day. Unlike Joyce's classic, this modern story takes place in a small, quirky southern American town rather than Dublin, Ireland. Still, for those of us with attention spans longer than that of the average house pet, the threads of the three stories that make up the chronicles can be seen slowly interweaving into an harmonious comedic tapestry. The viewer who pays meticulous attention will be rewarded, since quite literally everything in the film echoes and resonates throughout all three vignettes, and like far-off thunder slowly building to a deafening crescendo, it all comes together in the perfect ending. Well suited to repeated viewings, I feel that "Pawn Shop Chronicles" is destined to become a cult classic among truly discerning aficionados of modern comic cinema.

"The Cooler" director Wayne Kramer's "Pawn Shop Chronicles" is the latest in a string of movies about a bunch of people who don't necessarily meet but have a connection. And it's a really crazy movie at that. The connection here is a pawnshop in Louisiana and a ring. My favorite segment was the first one, just because of the characters' fun-loving attitudes. There is at least one scene that tests what you're willing to watch.

Yes, it's a pretty weird movie, but I liked it, especially Brendan Fraser's Elvis impersonator. The graphic novel approach also gives the movie an impressive dimension. Just remember that it's NOT for the squeamish.

So yes, why are racists supposed to hate Jews?

I literally was laughing out loud at a few of the early scenes from this movie. I sat there thinking, yeah, this is my kinda thing. The meth-heads part was brilliant and the ring part too right up until the rescue. But.... then it all just went limp. I liked the idea of things being interlinked with the pawn shop, but what the hell was going on at the end? All the early promise just seemed to dissipate. What a let down. Such a shame because this could have had cult written all over it. A smart and darkly funny little indie flick, with decent acting all the way through, but alas, it got murdered by the end. What a shame indeed. But the first half is certainly worth seeing.

"I went into a pawn shop and found it. It was like God brought me there." Alton is the owner of a local pawn shop. One day a kid comes in with a ring to pawn. This innocent event triggers something that affects many people including a group of meth addicts, an Elvis impersonator, and the original owner of the ring. I really like this type of movie. Movies where one event connects a wide variety of people and the stories all end up converging. They are fun to watch and are usually well written. The best of this type is obviously Crash but there have been others. That said, this is watchable, funny and entertaining but nothing amazing. The best part of this movie is Brendan Frasier as Elvis, it took me a while to realize it was him, but he was really funny and great in this. There is some really dark humor in this but there is also main stream humor, there is a little bit of everything in this. I liked it but it's not something I think I would watch again. Overall, funny and entertaining. A fun one time watch. I give it a B.