Men of Respect

William Reilly's "Men of Respect," starring John Turturro and the fascinating Katherine Borowitz, is one of the few genuinely innovative gangster films produced in recent years. Chronicling the rise of a very bold, but not very decisive hit man (Turturro, the film's characters are carefully and convincingly delineated, and the frequent scenes of grotesque violence are almost a diversion from the development of the characters themselves. Although Turturro is splendid as the bloodthirsty, but slightly addled killer, the film is stolen by the performance of Ms. Borowitz, who plays his long-suffering, titanium-spined wife. Other characters include the ill-starred mob bosses played by Rod Steiger, Peter Boyle, and Rod Steiger. Other scene-stealers include three unforgettable "witches," whom Turturro consults for a glimpse of his future. If this is beginning to sound familar, it should: "Men of Respect" is a very faithful update of "The Tragedy of Macbeth!" A movie to savor, and an actress not to be forgotten.

The scene with the gypsies (witches) came as a complete surprise, very few viewers would appreciate a small detail that just blew my socks off. In that somewhat creepy scene, there was a song/music in the background. What made it especially haunting was that it was being sung in Romanian, and roughly translated into English the voice was saying, "Throw the dirt on top of me (implying he is in a grave) so that I no longer have to see the pain and sorrow..." Little details like this made the movie brilliant -- of course, you may have to be Romanian to appreciate it, but still....

Some may say that the movie isn't 'Shakespearian' enough. But this adaptation was done very creatively and captures Shakespeare's themes quite well. It's even more interesting when you consider that Shakespeare himself borrowed and got creative with themes, symbolism, story lines, and characterizations from a much older literary source, that of the Bible. Consider Ahab and Jezebel, washing the blood off one's hands, the witches of Endor, divine judgment, all were incorporated in the story of Macbeth, and carry over into this film as well. This is a movie you can watch over and over again, and catch interesting new details each time.

Imagine the pitch: A classic tale of betrayal, murder, deception - taking power by any means necessary. It's Macbeth - but set in the ever attractive world of American gangsters! William Shakespeare's Goodfellas! The story does lend itself to the setting unfortunately it is very boring, poorly acted and no real flair or excitment that other gangster pictures manage. It's full of good actors - none of whom are any good because they are constrained by a poor script and poor direction.

Don't watch this - go to the theatre and watch MacBeth instead.

It's probably safe to say that the majority of moviegoers in America today cannot carefully outline the plot of Shakespeare's Macbeth (on which this film is based) and probably would wonder why the main characters start chattering on about guilt so often when murder is their business--and you know how agonized John Tuturrro can be when he wants to! The film can't decide whether to be a springboard from the play, a clever re-interpretation, or a mob film with some casual references. And in any case--who was their target audience?

For those who know their bard, the fun of watching this is in the anticipation of familiar scenes or dialogue--gleeful when director Reilly decides to drag the drunken porter in after the murder of the King (read "mob boss" here), or disappointed when Lady L. doesn't go into "Out Damn Spot!!" although she is shown scrubbing her bathtub a la Mommie Dearest.

If you know the plot well, its hard to get into this remake, which isn't quite ludicrous enough to be amusing (anybody remember Ruth Roman as Lady Macbeth in an earlier remake entitled Joe Macbeth?), but is impossible to look at objectively, and thus truly enjoy as a movie experience. I wouldn't say "fly, Fleance, fly! "but neither would I generally recommended this (in spite of a compelling cast and excellent pacing) except as a quirky and often stimulating comparison with the actual play.

While not the greatest modernization of a Shakespeare play, this movie is visually stunning and John Turturro can always be counted on to give a great performance. The fortune teller is a decent substitute for the 3 witches and the period sets and costumes are wonderful. I wouldn't recommend this movie if you are a die hard Shakespeare fan, but would if you love gangster flicks or interesting ideas.