Mob Boss

If you liked William Hickey in "Prizzi's Honor", he resurrects his character, as Don Anthony in "Mob Boss". This is a very weak "Godfather" satire with few laughs. Stuart Whitman looks perplexed as to what he's doing in this schlock-fest? Morgan Fairchild's performance is one of the better efforts in the movie, and that alone is not a good sign for sure. Eddie Deezen vacillates between "Three Stooges" slapstick and a bad Woody Allen imitation. Fatally flawed, "Mob Boss" is so derivative that boredom quickly overcomes comedy and the film drags on with car chases, hidden weapons in a restaurant bathroom, and numerous other nonsense. - MERK

My review was written in September 1990 after watching the movie on Vidmark video cassette.

Eddie Deezen has a funny comedy vehicle in "Mob Boss", fantasy specialist Fred Olen Ray's successful shift into more mainstream filmmaking.

Direct-to-video release is good enough to have merited some theatrical play but in any event would have had trouble finding its niche. Light-hearted approach is at variation with the ultraviolet spate of gangster pics on the market.

Script by Ray's longtime collaborator T. L. Lankford carefully spoofs "The Godfather". This time it's William Hickey, virtually reprising his "Prizzi's Honor" role, as the main mobster, who calls in nerdish son Deezen to take over after he's shot by rivals.

Level of sily puns has Deezen named "Tony Anthony" and besides Don Francisco and Don Taglianeti there is a gangster name "Don Johnson".

Like his idol Jerry Lewis in "The Patsy", Deezen is put through all sorts of training for his leadership position, including lessons in seduction.

Deezen is fun in the Al Pacino role from "The Godfather"; it would be amusing to see him spoof "Sea of Love".

Supporting cast is very effective, including Morgan Fairchild as a gangster moll; Brinke Stevens as an ineffectual hit woman; and Karen Russell as Hickey's nurse. Irwin Keyes is perfectly cast as Deezen's mentor, making for a funny contrasting team. Ray's interest in film minutiae is reflected in the casting of both Mike Mazurki and Jack O'Halloran, who played the same role in Raymond Chandler's "Murder, My Sweet" and its remake "Farewell, My Lovely".

Tech credits are fine, including cutesy use of sound effects to enhance slapstick scenes.

That's about the only redeeming quality in a movie that otherwise insults the viewer's intelligence by losing track of time, plot, and reason for being produced.

Plus, how that guy with the glasses ever got a gig in Hollywood is beyond me.

problem: what to do with morgan fairchild besides putting her in a tight dress?

answer: she is the perfect trophy girlfriend for a mob boss.

amazingly, this movie is never boring. it may be entirely daffy, but that is its aim and it hits the mark. this is ms. fairchild's happiest outing, and a smart role for eddie deezen, who brings his best REVENGE OF THE NERDS II and turns it up a notch. everyone in fact is well cast, and this is why the movie holds together so well.

for those who seek lunacy but don't want slapstick, or who simply want to see morgan fairchild without cringing.

"Mob Boss" tries very hard to be funny, and, at times, succeeds. A send up of the gangster/organized crime genre, it chronicles the growth of a dying mob boss's nerdy son from the day he is pulled out of military academy to the time he becomes head of an organized crime syndicate. How funny you will find this depends greatly on how you view low brow humor (e.g. child being baptized urinating on pastor and mob officials), as well as if you are watching for the women (Morgan Fairchild, Brinke Stevens - who's a delight), and, subsequently, the nude scenes. I enjoyed it, and found parts amusing (such as when Eddie Deezen drops his gun into a restroom toilet), though it is most certainly not for all tastes.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.